Ripples by the Pond
by Gia
Summary: SBBOrg Movement. A wish Ayame made in the past sends Yuki reeling back in time. Finding himself sharing a class with the Mabudachi Trio, Yuki must find a way to keep his secret hidden or risk losing himself in the past forever.
1. Default Chapter

**Title:** Ripples by the Pond

**Author:** Gia

**Rating: **PG

**Pairing:** None.

**Time**: 90's. The Mabudachi Trio are in still in high school.

**Summary**: A wish Ayame made in the past sends Yuki reeling back in time. Finding himself sharing a class with the Mabudachi Trio themselves, Yuki must find a way to keep his secret hidden or risk losing himself in the past forever.

**Disclaimer**: The story here is non-profit and for purely entertainment purposes; nor is it affiliated to Takaya Natsuki, Hakusensha, or any other publishers of Fruits Basket. The characters belong to Takaya Natsuki and the plot belongs to me.

**Author's Notes:** Yes, I've gone back to re-write (re-word?) a lot of my chapters. For the new readers, the only important things (maybe basic things) to keep in my here are that Yuki is _in the past_ and will be entering the second year of high school with his brother. Now onto the story!

* * *

"Make a wish Aya!" Shigure called to his friend. They were standing atop a small bridge, a small creek running underneath. School had ended for the day, and they were taking the long way towards home. It was a ritual that the three did whenever they took this particular route home; it was because it gave them a chance for the three to pretend that no curse existed for them; a chance to forget the real reason they attended an all-boys school. 

But most of all, a chance for the three to spend a simple, peaceful moment together.

This particular routine involved standing atop the bridge and making a wish. Having already made their wishes, both Shigure and Hatori were impatiently waiting for Ayame to make his wish.

"Ayame," Hatori called, eyes flashing, "Hurry up."

The small sound of a ping was heard, followed by a small splash. "Done!"

Ayame headed over to them, and they headed down the path. "_Ne_, Aya, what did you wish for?"

Ayame winked, pushing strands of his hair back behind his ear, "A surprise."

**

* * *

****  
Ripples by the Pond **

By Gia

_Chapter One: Welcome Back, Stranger_

* * *

Yuki raised his eyes from dully staring at his reflection on the table. Ayame had chosen this particular day to visit Shigure's home—completely unplanned—and had wasted no time in re-telling childhood stories. Normally in these situations, Yuki would have stayed clear from any interaction with Ayame, especially since he had just come home from school and he had some pressing homework to do, but today, Yuki didn't have the energy to even respond to Ayame's antics. 

Yuki brought up his arm to rest his elbow on the table. Placing his head on his palm, Yuki allowed his eyes to trace the expressions on the others' face. Unsurprisingly, Tohru's was one of rapt attention. Shigure was complacently nodding here and there at Ayame's current story. And Kyou?

Yuki smiled faintly. Kyou looked torn between bolting from the room and strangling Ayame.

"—and I took the snakes and gave them a proper burial under the apricot trees in the back of the school! I couldn't bear to see it mutilated by the hands of my own peers!"

"Amazing, Ayame-san!" Tohru uttered, eyes wide as Ayame stand up and pose dramatically for the end of his story. "The teacher didn't find out?" she asked.

Ayame made a dismissing gesture. "The teacher did catch me but I knew I did the right thing!" He turned to Shigure and winked. "Shigure agrees with me."

Shigure nodded seriously. "A truly noble deed."

"And Yuki, you think so too, right?" Ayame focused his gaze on Yuki who had, throughout the Ayame's stories, remained silent.

Yuki shifted uncomfortably. "You can't save everyone," He said after a lengthy pause.

Ayame blinked at the response, finding Yuki's words more hurtful than the usual insults Yuki threw at him. Unsure how to respond, Ayame tried switching tactics. "Ah, but Yuki, don't you want to know how your charming older brother got out of getting into too much trouble once he got caught?"

Yuki sighed and slowly pushed himself up to stand. How was it that he always felt so tired around his older brother?

"No."

Ayame tried pouting at him. "But Yuki—"

Yuki kept his back to his brother and quietly left the room.

Kyou, who was watching this brief moment between the brothers, rolled his eyes at Yuki's behavior. "Tch. Whatever." Kyou didn't really care either way on the poor relationship of the two brothers. Personally, Kyou thought Yuki was right in ignoring his brother. Ayame was too loud, too annoying, too _much_ to handle. For once, he and the rat were in complete agreement.

"I'm going out," he called out over his shoulder before exiting the room.

Tohru gazed worriedly at the doors Kyou just left through. It seemed rather abrupt for both boys to leave, but then again, they were probably had other things to work on. Which reminded her…

"I need to prepare dinner!" Tohru cried out, standing up hastily and bowing to both Ayame and Shigure. "You'll be staying for that, won't you Ayame-san?"

"Of course!" Ayame smiled brightly. "I wouldn't miss Tohru's famous cooking."

She flushed at the compliment and left with a small wave.

Ayame kept his smile on his face as he stared at the closed doors where the three had previously left through. It was suddenly very quiet in the room.

"Aya-san," Ayame felt Shigure move to sit beside him.

"Shigure, no need."

Shigure frowned. "Ayame—" he tried again.

Ayame lightly nudged Shigure's shoulder. "Will I be sharing my bed with you tonight, Shigure?"

Shigure paused for the barest seconds in surprise before catching on. "This and every night, forever, Ayame…"

"Shigure…"

They began to lean toward each other.

"—_the hell?_"

Mere inches away from each other's faces, they stopped and turned back toward the doors.

Where Kyou was standing.

"_Gaarghh_—" Kyou gave a sort of strangled yell before falling over.

"Maa, maa, that worked out better than I thought it would." Shigure said cheerfully.

* * *

Yuki shifted in his seat, trying to focus on the book in front of him rather than the commotion downstairs. He had heard the rather dull thud and definitely wasn't keen on finding out what warranted said sound. 

Yuki's eyes scanned the book in front of him. Several chapters were assigned for reading and he wanted to get it out of the way before tackling his other homework.

'_To be perfectly frank with myself and with the reader I had no very lofty motives when I took the King's shilling…the King's shilling…shilling…_'

Yuki sighed in frustration, rubbing the bridge of his nose.

There was obviously no point in trying to read if he couldn't stop reading the same thing over and over. Not for the first time, Yuki wondered at the recent difficulty he was having in regard to his brother. He had done so well in showing nothing but indifference in the past, but recently it was just easier to avoid him. Yuki had to admit that Ayame's persistence was wearing him down, but to what end? Yuki couldn't imagine any sort of reconciliation in the near—or far—future.

And yes, Yuki could admit that was very strange. Isn't this what he wanted? Ayame to finally accept him and act like the brother he never had? Why did he constantly push him away if Ayame had changed?

'_I'll tell you why_,' a voice in his head retorted. '_Because he was a good for nothing brother who didn't have the heart to spare one single moment with his only brother._ _Someone who needed him then, and doesn't need him now.'_

Yuki sat up from his chair, hands catching the edge of his desk as his vision momentarily went fuzzy. A nap would certainly solve whatever the heck was going on with him.

Not bothering to even take off his uniform, Yuki dropped down onto his bed and let sleep claim him.

* * *

Akio Kentarou idly tapped his fingers on his steering wheel, letting the soft music flow over him. He pushed his glasses back up and yawned tiredly. Classes had ended for the day and all Akio wanted was to go home and take a nice long nap. That is, until he saw a body lying on the road. 

_**SCREECH!**_

His car managed to swerve to the side and luckily didn't hit a lamppost. Cursing, Akio got out, and ran towards what he saw on the road.

A body. A body of a young boy!

Tie flying in his face, Akio ran towards the immobile body and got on his knees to check on him. It was quite a surprise to see that the boy wasn't injured. Not even a scratch. In actuality, he seemed to be sleeping. Akio didn't know much about medical things, but he was pretty sure that a fatally wounded person on the ground wouldn't be sleeping peacefully.

With slight hesitance, he reached forward and shook the arm of the sleeping boy. He either must've done it too lightly, or the teen was a deep sleeper, because there was no reaction. Trying again, he managed to get a response. If you could call an arm flying out and hitting him in the head as a response, that is.

Akio grabbed his head painfully, hearing a quiet murmur (_Baka neko…__**snore**_in the background. He eyed the frail-looking boy warily, and almost decided not to wake him. His conscience got the better of him, and he tried again. Being a quick learner, he managed to duck from the first arm, but he didn't see the other arm. Not a moment later and Akio Kentaro was nursing quite a large bump on both sides of his face.

'_Obviously the boy's awake now, right? Wait a minute. I'm an adult. Teenagers can't treat adults like this.'_ He walked over to the teen and gazed down at him. _'He has to be pretending! What sort of person would still be asleep after all that?'_

He scooted closer to him to see if the boy was awake or not. The face was pretty lax and his breathing was quite deep and even. Frowning to himself, Akio bent his head closer to the boy's face. At this distance, he could make out faint snores emitting from the boy's mouth.

_'I don't believe it… he's asleep!' _Akio thought incredulously to himself.

Feeling completely incredulous at the entire situation, Akio shook the boy once more, grunting a bit when he heaved the boy up from his armpits. He kept one hand on his arm to prevent him from falling back to the floor. "Hello? You can stop pretending to be asleep, I mean, you're _standing_ in the middle of the street," Akio pointed out, nudging the teen once more.

Akio regarded the boy for any reaction.

Slowly, almost painfully so, the boy's face cringed before vivid violet eyes revealed themselves to Akio's curious face. As soon as the boy's eyes met Akio's own, he took a step back.

He didn't know what to make of the situation. Here was this high school student who looked, for all intents and purposes, like he was just taking a nap in the middle of the road. And more to the point, he had hit him with both arms while he was asleep! Akio felt that some stern scolding was called for but that look in the other's eyes, that confusion, that wariness, it was quite convincing of the boy's complete ignorance of what had occurred.

This undoubtedly meant Akio was at a loss of words. Sighing to himself, he tried to convey a friendly smile without startling the teen further, "Are you alright there, kid?"

The boy blinked at him. He gave a polite smile and bow. "Yes, I'm quite alright, although..." He looked around. "How did I get here?"

'_Ah, I thought as much,_' Akio thought to himself, watching with some amusement at the other's bewildered expression.

"This may sound shocking, but I found you asleep on the road. I know you boys like to try new things, but sleeping in the middle of the road wasn't something I'd expect."

Yuki glanced at him sharply. "Sleeping? On the road?"

Akio nodded slowly. "I take it you didn't realize that. Well," he glanced at his watch, "it's about 3:34. You might've been heading home by now. I'm sure your parents will be worried by now."

Yuki smiled tightly. "Yes, you might be right. Thank you for," he paused, "waking me."

Not looking back, Yuki quickly walked away, turned a corner, and vanished. Akio stared after him, scratching the back of his head. _'Today is a decidedly odd day.'_

* * *

Walking down the walkway, Yuki glanced at the shops to both sides. Everything seemed normal, although he didn't recognize a few stores. _Where was that grocery store down at the corner? Since when did they have a salon on that street?_ Shaking his head, he passed by a window and stopped in his tracks. Turning his head slowly to the side, he looked at a large calendar hung on the wall of a hair salon. In block numbers, **1990** was stamped next to the date. 

'_Impossible!'_ Yuki thought to himself, his footsteps quickening as headed down the street. A cursory glance in all the stores revealed a similar date. _'1990, 1990, __**1990**__! This can't be real! It's not possible!'_

Heart hammering in his chest, Yuki stepped back from yet another store's window and ran.

* * *

"Thank you!" 

Ayame grinned, and accepted the ice cream cone. They were on their way to the Sohma Estate, and both he and Shigure had the sudden urge for ice cream. Before Hatori could even protest, they dragged him with them to buy from a vendor. Unfortunately, Hatori wasn't in the mood for it, and proceeded to glare at the two coldly.

Far from being fazed, Shigure calmly replied that his glare was only making the ice cream colder, which made it more enjoyable. Not seeing the logic behind that statement, or rather not wanting to work it out in his head, Hatori gave up and waited for them to finish.

He rolled his eyes in exasperation at the enthusiastic sounds Shigure and Ayame were making, merely to attract the attention of bystanders lingering by the vendor. Hatori wondered when it was that he had gotten used to their antics.

Turning around to survey the surrounding park, Hatori found himself appreciating the serene view. The days of normalcy were the days to be treasured in Hatori's opinion. When things were blissfully simple—easy route home, ice cream at the park—Hatori could appreciate life's simple pleasures in silence.

But today was not the day for simple pleasures because before he could fully appreciate his own musing, someone ran full tilt into him. He hadn't even had the time to notice the person, much less jumping out of the way. It felt like the breath had been knocked out of him as soon as they crashed to the ground.

Hatori winced when his head made a dull sound against the hard concrete, but more so at the sudden weight from the body sprawled awkwardly on top of him. There was a momentary pause, before two things happened simultaneously. The person who ran into him gasped and suddenly a pair of surprised violet eyes was invading his personal space

Hatori distantly heard Ayame and Shigure hurrying over to pull the boy off of him and help him, Hatori, up.

"Hatori…?" Ayame asked concernedly, hooking an arm under his own to help him up.

Shigure turned to the boy who ran into him. A cross between purple and grey hair fell in wisps over the boy's face. His pale alabaster skin was flushed, and the boy seemed to be breathing heavily. The face titled upwards, and Shigure was struck with sudden familiarity, although he couldn't put his finger on it. The boy put his hand to his mouth, coughing. Shigure felt a bit concerned but tried to focus on the matter at hand. Namely, who the stranger was.

"Sorry, I-I didn't see you." the boy spoke softly.

Hatori, dusting himself off and assuring Ayame that he wasn't hurt, turned towards the boy. "It's fine. Just watch where you're going next time."

The boy nodded, taking great care not to look either of them in the eyes. Shigure only got a glimpse of deep amethyst eyes and again, he was struck with familiarity. The boy bowed in apology and turned to go before Ayame abruptly called out.

"That uniform," Ayame noted, "Do you go to Kaibara? I don't remember seeing you there."

At this the boy looked up, and Ayame also saw his eyes. Violet. Ayame's breath caught in his throat and it was like a sledgehammer had been taken and rammed into his stomach. Such a wave of familiarity had literally robbed him of his breath.

"No," the boy said simply. He turned again, but this time, Hatori called out to him.

"What's your name?"It's the least I could ask of someone who practically ran me into the ground." There was a touch of humor to his tone that removed any doubts that he was being accusatory.

"Yuki So—Suyama." The boy tilted his head, glancing at each one of them slowly. When those eyes settled on each of them, they couldn't help a brief shudder. Pursing his lips, the boy turned and left.

"Strange boy," Shigure said thoughtfully. "I felt as if I've met him before."

Ayame stared after him silently.

* * *

_**  
TBC**_

* * *

**  
AN**: I sort of rewrote the first chapter because I realize that it's not as strongly written as the later chapters. Anyway, for those who have already been with this story in the past, any re-writes I did here didn't include anything important. Although, I'd like for you to read it again since it's new. XD 

I hope everyone likes the story and continues reading! You'll find that the length of future chapters are agonizingly long, but as far as I know, that's a **good** thing. XD Oh, and for the newbies, this _**is**_ a part of my **SBBOrg** **Movement**. I hope that it'll catch on and spread like a disease. Only, a good disease… my, I have a way with words.


	2. First Day of School

**Title:** Ripples by the Pond

**Author:** Gia

**Rating: **PG

**Pairing:** None.

**Time**: 90's. The Mabudachi Trio are in still in high school.

**Summary**: A wish Ayame made in the past sends Yuki reeling back in time. Finding himself sharing a class with the Mabudachi Trio themselves, Yuki must find a way to keep his secret hidden or risk losing himself in the past forever.

**Disclaimer**: The story here is non-profit and for purely entertainment purposes; nor is it affiliated to Takaya Natsuki, Hakusensha, or any other publishers of Fruits Basket. The characters belong to Takaya Natsuki and the plot belongs to me.

**Author's Notes:** Yes, I've gone back to re-write (re-word?) a lot of my chapters. For the new readers, the only important things (maybe basic things) to keep in my here are that Yuki is _in the past_ and will be entering the second year of high school with his brother. Now onto the story!

_They were… He was…_ Yuki shut his eyes tiredly, pausing in his quick stride. This couldn't be happening. The tight clench in his chest brought him back too reality. He smirked bitterly, clenching his fists. It would be all too easy to let this attack take him, if he let it. His smile faded. Now was not the time to be overly dramatic, he needed to find someone he knew.

Technically speaking though, he knew those three he had just met.

A small laugh slipped through his lips. _'I'm going crazy… but I don't seem to care.'_ Wrapping his arms around himself, in a semblance of an embrace, he walked down the street. The first thing to do was to find a place to stay since it would be getting dark soon, and he couldn't stay outside in the cold.

* * *

**Ripples by the Pond **

By Gia

_Chapter Two: First Day of School, A New Student_

* * *

With a flick of the switch, light filled into the kitchen. Akio brushed his fingers through his short brown hair, pushing up his glasses, and dropping his keys on the counter. Ever since the run-in with the mysterious boy—and staring into space for a good 15 minutes after—he had gotten back into the car and drove home. He had tried to get his mind off the strange encounter, but it just wouldn't leave him. Now that he thought about it, the uniform reminded him of the uniform in Kaibara High, but he didn't remember teaching a student that looked even remotely like him.

Sock clad feet padded into the kitchen, as Akio brought out the pan and oil. Maybe stir fry would be good today.

_'I wonder if the boy has gone home yet.'_

The stove was on, and he needed to get the vegetables. His hands made quick work of the ingredients, slivering baby bok choy and julienne carrots. Minced garlic was already sizzling in the wok, and he added a dash of soy and oyster and dark vinegar. _'Perhaps I'll ask Ms. Okita about any new students. I might see him later and ask him myself._'

Grabbing the brown spoon, he made sure to move around the stir fry so it wouldn't burn. Afterwards, he tipped the pan over onto a plate, grabbing chopsticks from the side and sat down.

_'Perhaps he'll be in my class._'

* * *

Yuki cursed, remembering he didn't carry change in his pocket. Despondently hanging the payphone back, he continued on his way. It was already dark, and the cold wind didn't help the situation. His uniform wasn't thick, so it didn't prevent the chills that rang through his body. Gritting his teeth, Yuki decided he had to go to a house and ask to borrow the phone since the stores were closed already. His uniform wasn't dirtied, he had a presentable image, so hopefully he wouldn't be ignored.

Randomly choosing a house, he reluctantly walked up to the door and knocked. He waited a few minutes, but still no answer. Sighing in frustration, he knocked once more. Still no answer. Rolling his eyes, he turned to walk away when the door suddenly swung open. Yuki turned his head, ready to ask if he could use their phone when he stopped.

He recognized this man.

"What a surprise," Akio muttered dryly, ushering Yuki in without question, although he sent a reproving stare at him for not wearing a coat in the chilly weather. Yuki stood uncertainly in the hall, staring at the wall to the side. Akio smiled warmly, "And what can I do for you, uh…"

"Yuki. Yuki Suyama." Yuki mentally blanched, he was close to giving a different last name, but he had to remain consistent with his lies. He had told Hatori his last name and he might see him again.

"Well, Yuki, my name is Akio Kentaro. What can I do for you?"

Yuki sent him a trembling smile. "May I borrow your phone?"

Akio looked surprised. "Have you lost your way home?"

Yuki's smile turned into a frown. He wasn't an idiot. "No. I-I just need to use your phone."

Akio nodded, still staring at him oddly, and gestured towards the small table that held up the phone. Nodding his thanks, Yuki grasped the phone and automatically dialed Shigure's home phone number. Akio watched from the side.

Yuki listened to the rings, and belatedly realized he called a phone number that didn't exist. Before he could hang up, he heard the sound of a woman's voice on the other line, "Hello?"

"Ah, sorry! Wrong number!"

"Oh, that's okay. Goodbye."

"Bye."

Yuki blushed, hanging up the phone. He was aware of Akio watching him, and knew he'd be suspicious. "Can't remember your phone number Yuki?" came the amused statement.

Yuki spun around, glaring at him. "I just made a mistake." Akio sighed dramatically, reminding Yuki much of Shigure, and he strode towards the phone. Akio picked up the phone, laying it on his shoulder. "Tell me your number, I'll dial it."

Yuki panicked, and gave a strained but polite smile. "You don't have to do that Kentarou-san. I'll just try again."

Akio waved his hand. "It's no problem." He waited expectantly.

Yuki's smile slipped. "I…"

Akio looked at him, and suddenly, realization dawned on his face. "That explains it! Why you were in the street. Why you're here now. Why you can't dial the number!"

Yuki tilted his head confusedly. "What explains it?"

"You're homeless and you must've stolen that uniform!"

Yuki sputtered. "I'm not homeless! And I didn't steal this uniform, it's mine!"

Akio's triumphant finger fell. "Then why can't you remember your phone number?" He didn't wait for Yuki to explain when it clicked. "Oh, well of course, why didn't I think of that?" He balled his fists and rapped them lightly against his head. "Amnesia! You were lying on the street so maybe you were hit in some kind of accident. Can you remember what happened?"

Yuki blinked._ 'I'm in the past._' He had to clench his arms to his side to keep from reflexively covering his mouth. For a moment, he had thought he blurted that aloud.

"No," Yuki rushed to say, noticing with some panic at Akio's expectant face.

"Then you've probably lost your memory. This happened to an old student of mine, it took two months for him to get his memory back." Akio shook his head sadly. "Can you try to remember your parent's address? Anything that could lead to you back to your home?"

"No," Yuki began, trying to quell his nervousness, "I can't remember anything."

"Well, you don't look injured, but I'm not a professional. Do you feel okay, or should I take you to the hospital?"

Yuki paled, shaking his head no. If he were to run into a nurse, or a female doctor, or a female visitor—it would not be good. "I'm fine. But I have no place to go." He smiled sheepishly at Akio.

Akio looked thoughtful as he regarded him. Yuki found the staring more than a little unnerving but waited for whatever the man had to say.

"Then I will act as your temporary guardian."

Yuki did a double-take. _'That was sudden.'_ He shook his head to clear his surprise. "A-Are you sure? You don't even know me."

"True, but you don't even know yourself, Yuki, apart from your name apparently. You seem like an intelligent boy, it will be no problem for me. My only rule is that you help me around the house in return." He grinned.

Yuki returned the grin surprisingly. "Thank you, Kent-"

"_Mou_, Akio-san will do. Kentarou-san makes me sound old, and I don't look old, now do I?"

"Er…"

Akio adopted a martyred look. "Don't answer that."

Yuki laughed. "Yes, Akio-san."

* * *

"WHAT!"

"Well, I couldn't very well let you stay cooped up in this house, could I? You'd miss school."

Yuki crossed his arms. Last night, Akio had let him stay in the guest room and lend him his clothes. He had insisted that he washed Yuki's uniform so Yuki had let him. Unfortunately, he knew now why Akio was so adamant. Apparently Akio had called Kaibara High and spoke with the principal about Yuki. Today, Yuki was going to attend his first day in the _middle_ of the term. _'I need to focus all my attention on getting back to my time. I can't go to school now.'_

"Over my dead body." Yuki retorted.

"Is that a way to treat your guardian, Yuki? After feeding you, taking care of you, and putting a roof over your head, this—_!_"

"You make it sound like you've been taking care of me my entire life!"

"But—_!_"

"No! I will not attend that all boys' school! You can't make me!" Yuki knew he sounded childish, but still, Akio could've asked first.

Akio suddenly turned until his back was facing Yuki. "I see."

Yuki frowned when he noticed Akio's shoulders tremble. _'He wasn't…__**crying**__, was he?'_

He could see Akio reach into his pocket and pull out a handkerchief. Before Yuki could so much as take a step forward (or more preferably) back and out the door, Akio blew noisily into the cloth. "D-Don't mind me," Akio said, sniffing loudly, "I was just s-so excited t-to get you i-i-into _school!_" And at the last word, Akio's voice cracked and he began to bawl—quite obnoxiously in Yuki's opinion—like a three year old.

As soon as Akio had opened his mouth, Yuki had a feeling something horrendous was going to happen. But this? _'I wonder if he's right in the head.' _Yuki thought to himself, _'because I don't know any adult that acts like him…'_

Yuki wrinkled his nose when Akio blew again into his handkerchief. Now that he regarded him, a person did come to Yuki's mind: Ayame. _'They're both just as dramatic, aren't they? _The idea caused a sudden pang for home back in the present time.

Sighing loudly, Yuki stepped closer to Akio. "Look, Kenta—Akio-san, I'm sorry. I was just surprised and I'm really very grateful that you managed to—_!" _

Akio swung around and grasped Yuki by his shoulders. Yuki could almost see the stars shining in the man's eyes. "So does that mean…"

Yuki nodded with a defeated sigh, but glared up at Akio sharply when he felt the other pat him on the head. "_Oi! _I'm not a dog."

Akio raised his hands in apology. "Ah, sorry, but you remind me of my little brother."

Yuki raised his eyebrows in surprise. Seeing the boy's expression, Akio grinned sheepishly back at him. "Anyway, I've already ironed your uniform. Go change, and we'll eat breakfast."

Yuki stared at Akio for a little longer before he trudged upstairs to change. So he was going to Kaibara High. The same school his brother, Shigure, and Hatori attended. What were the chances he was going to run into them?

* * *

Ayame shut his locker closed, waiting for Shigure to finish putting his books and shoes away. Hatori had already gone to class, and with some begging, promised that he would tell the teacher that they would be a bit late because of a family incident. Shigure shut his locker, grinning over at Ayame.

"Have you been waiting long, love?"

"I would wait an eternity for you Gure-san."

Both gave a thumbs-up. "Yes!"

Grinning madly, they hurried to their classroom, waved cheerfully to their teacher, and sat down next to Hatori. The bell rang just after they sat and Ayame winked at the teacher. Smiling at their antics, Akio cleared his throat.

"Quiet down now. We are having a new student today. Now, I am warning all the boys ahead of time. He has slight amnesia, so he doesn't remember anything personal. So please refrain from asking about his life story, okay?" He ended the last bit sarcastically, earning a few scattered chuckles from the boys. That must've been the cue, because the classroom door slid open slowly.

The boys watched as a slender boy stepped inside, shutting the door behind himself. He had purple-grayish hair that fell in tendrils around his face, slightly shielding his eyes. His skin looked as if it had never seen the sun and because of his stature, made him appear alarmingly breakable. A pale, thin arm picked up a piece of chalk and wrote his name out with thin strokes.

The boys watched in silence as his name was written out. It was as if some kind of spell had been cast in the room, causing the usually rowdy boys to wait in bated breath for the boy to turn around and greet them.

When he finally did turn around, the first thing to catch anyone's eyes were his amethyst colored eyes. Despite the vivid color, the boy's expression was shuttered off so that no one could tell if he was happy or nervous to see them.

"My name is Yuki Suyama," Yuki said before bowing low, "pleased to meet you."

And like that, the silence was broken.

Akio coughed uncomfortably before straightening up and giving Yuki a reassuring smile. "Yuki, why don't you sit in that vacant seat beside the window? It's the desk in front of Hatori's." Akio nodded in the direction he was pointing to. "Hatori, raise your hand please."

Hatori complied automatically, but he was too busy staring at Yuki. Shigure and Ayame were just as surprised, but neither made any move to show they recognized the new student. Yuki kept his face perfectly blank as he took his place in the desk in front of Hatori. He placed his bag on the desk, then his elbow on top so he could cradle his head in the palm of his hand.

Akio inwardly sighed at what had transpired. He had had a feeling that Yuki was shy but to this extent?

'_It must be first day jitters.'_

* * *

Yuki's eyes slowly trailed off to the side, staring at the trees that lined themselves inside school grounds. It was almost relaxing to watch the leaves drift to the ground. He could hear laughter in the background; Akio was busy describing the finer points of English with much gusto, throwing in comical jokes to make the lesson interesting.

Yuki felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up, alerting him that someone was staring at the back of his head. He knew it was one of the three, most likely Hatori, but more to the point, it was _very_ disconcerting. Shifting in his chair, Yuki kept his face blank, and pretended to listen to Akio's lecture. It took five solid minutes, but the stare left the back of his head, and Yuki could relax.

That is, until a small ball of crumpled paper landed on top of his desk.

Raising his eyebrow, he picked it up and carefully unfolded it. Drawn messily across the sheet of paper were three cartoons of the three boys behind him, all giving Yuki a thumbs-up. A grin was tugging at his lips, but he squashed it down. He glanced down at the bottom of the page to see a message scrawled at the bottom. It read: _"After class, we can help you to your classes, what do you say?"_

He paused to digest the question before he crumpling it up into a small ball and throwing it deftly over his shoulder to land on Hatori's desk. Yuki couldn't possibly deal with his relatives, not if he wanted to find a way to get back to his own time. And while he knew he'd need all the friends he could get, Yuki didn't want them to be _them_. His mind brought up the image of the hand-written message. It was odd, now that he thought about it, but Yuki was almost certain that Ayame had written it.

Before he could pursue that train of thought, Yuki turned back to the board to focus on the lesson. Just because he was Ayame's age now, it didn't mean he was going to treat him nicer. No, even if he was sixteen or seventeen now, he wasn't going to—wait a minute. He, the younger Yuki, _he _was still in Sohma House.

Yuki didn't want to think what would happen if he saw his younger self. He remembered all too well what went on at the house and he certainly didn't want to revisit those memories.

The bell ringing brought Yuki from his daze. Yuki picked up his bag, and made for the door but Akio suddenly called out. "Yuki, wait!"

Yuki slowly swiveled around with a strained smile. "Yes?"

Akio glanced at the remaining students in the room: The Mabudachi Trio. "You three! Could you please wait a moment before going to your next class?"

Yuki looked from the three boys and back to Akio. He had a small idea as to what Akio was going to ask but he was hoping that he was wrong. It was more than a little annoying that as he approached the desk Akio was standing behind, he could clearly see the wide smiles on both Shigure and Ayame's faces.

"Here Yuki," Akio said as he held out a sheet of paper, "this lists your classes. I know I didn't have time to show it to you at home, but these three can help you around. Ayame happens to be class president, and Hatori and Shigure are very capable students. I'm sure they'll give you a warm welcome."

He inclined his head at the three with a small smile. "You'll be sharing the same classes with them, so you can have start off your friendship now, right?" Akio grinned in a friendly way, but it was gone when he met the icy stare of Yuki's eyes.

Yuki nodded wordlessly and took the paper from Akio's hand. He shifted his body away from touching Hatori who had suddenly stepped forward, clearly indicating that he would lead them all to their next class. Hatori turned back to him, inwardly wondering at the boy's aloof personality.

The tension between the two was only broken when Shigure and Ayame each wrapped an arm around Yuki's shoulders. "Let's go then Yuki, we'll show you to our next class." Shigure stated.

Yuki's bland expression had morphed into one of surprise. Hatori thought the expression was more fitting for the other's face. He started when he felt Shigure nudge him in the side. Was he caught staring at the new kid?

Shigure eyed the pink flush dusting Hatori's cheeks and grinned. Maybe having a new kid would be interesting.

_**TBC**_

* * *

**AN: **So it's the end of chapter two! I want to point out first that the last scene, I hope no one is thinking I'm implying something. Because I'm not; I'm just trying to show that there's some kind of connection between them that makes Hatori uncomfortable. There will be other scenes where Yuki interacts with each of them individually—Ayame moreso, of course—but I just wanted to show the different effects on each of them. So basically, there is NO PAIRING. Just brotherly love here!


	3. Fall of Surprise

**Title:** Ripples by the Pond

**Author:** Gia

**Rating: **PG

**Pairing:** None.

**Time**: 90's. The Mabudachi Trio are in still in high school.

**Summary**: A wish Ayame made in the past sends Yuki reeling back in time. Finding himself sharing a class with the Mabudachi Trio themselves, Yuki must find a way to keep his secret hidden or risk losing himself in the past forever.

**Disclaimer**: The story here is non-profit and for purely entertainment purposes; nor is it affiliated to Takaya Natsuki, Hakusensha, or any other publishers of Fruits Basket. The characters belong to Takaya Natsuki and the plot belongs to me.

**Author's Notes:** Yes, I've gone back to re-write (re-word?) a lot of my chapters. For the new readers, the only important things (maybe basic things) to keep in my here are that Yuki is _in the past_ and will be entering the second year of high school with his brother. Oh and I've got a website for this fanfic (just as I do for my others) so if you want to check it out, go to my profile and click on my homepage. Now onto the story!

* * *

Yuki looked up at the school as he headed for the entrance. Despite the fact that he had done this several times already, he was still getting used to the fact that he was attending high school with his brother. Yuki was sure it was going to be a long charade but as early in the game as he was, he felt confident enough to pull it off. The real problem lay in keeping himself distant from the three but unfortunately for him, the three had deemed it necessary to stick around him.

If it was a ploy, Yuki didn't get it. If it was an attempt at friendship… Yuki didn't even want to consider the consequences of _that_ happening.

* * *

**Ripples by the Pond **

By Gia

_Chapter Three: Fall of Surprise, New Revelations_

* * *

The next class was Health. It would be on the second floor, and they were currently climbing the stairs. Ayame and Shigure still had their arms thrown over Yuki's shoulders, and Hatori had made no attempt to speak to Yuki. When they reached the halls, Hatori's pace sped up. The stoic teen happened to be very good in this particular class. Hatori had wanted to be a doctor since he was little, so it was no surprise that he happened to excel in the subjects that were needed to pursue that goal. "So, Yuki, first time in all boys' school?"

Yuki was about to say yes, but remembered he wasn't supposed to remember. He shrugged. Shigure didn't seem disheartened by his lack of response and continued speaking. "It's not as bad as everyone makes it out to be. The lack of high school girls may seem bad at first, but we cope with it. There are some female teachers here, but I doubt you'll be interested in Katsura-san."

Yuki resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Shigure wasn't different in the future than he was when he was still in high school. "Well, what do you remember of your past Yuki?" Shigure tried again.

Yuki didn't really want to talk about it. What if he let something slip? It would be suspicious if he didn't know a thing. It might be enough reason to send him to a hospital. It wouldn't hurt to tell the edited truth.

"I remember personal stuff. My likes, my dislikes, and practical things too I guess."

Shigure and Ayame were ecstatic. That was the most this strange boy had said all day.

"We're here," said Hatori when they had finally arrived at the classroom.

As soon as they walked inside, the students' attention were immediately drawn over to Yuki. Katsura-san looked up and smiled warmly to Yuki. She was an elderly woman who held herself confidently, although there was a maternal touch that endeared her to most of the students.

"You must be Yuki Suyama. I see you've already been designated three boys to show you around, so I'll just allow you to sit with them in class today."

Yuki felt himself smile back at her elderly gaze and he sat down. He kept a frown from forming on his face when the other three took seats that circled him on both sides and behind him. He didn't like the fact that they felt they should box him off from the others, deliberately or not. He could already tell that the other boys were curious as to his special treatment by the three. He ignored the stares and was relieved when Katsura addressed the boys.

"I hope everyone has filled out their medical forms since I will be picking them up today." She nodded to a boy who had already laid out his form on his desk.

"Yuki, I know you haven't been given one, so I've made an extra copy for you." She walked towards him and handed him the paper. Yuki took it and looked down at it. It just needed the medical data on him, including past illness or allergies.

The medical forms were passed up and she took them from each row. She flipped through them to see that everything was filled in and then looked up.

"Today, I'd like to discuss procedures we can use if something were to happen during school. Nothing serious now, I'm not talking about performing surgery in the halls," at this the boys laughed appreciatively, "but I'd like everyone to at least be able to assist a fellow student. I've noticed that no one here seems to be prone to allergies, or needs any type of medication, which will make this class a bit easier. If anyone has asthma or anything of that sort, it should be included in the form."

She waited for someone to raise their hand, and watched as Yuki raised his. "Yes, Yuki?"

"I've had acute asthma since I was a child." Yuki paused. "At least, I'm sure I do. And…" he trailed off slowly, wondering if he should explain more.

She smiled reassuringly. "This will be a good chance to explain to your new classmates about this, and I can show them how to respond if you were to have an attack. That is, if you don't mind telling us about this Yuki."

Yuki faltered when the eyes turned towards him. "Hat—my doctor," Yuki felt his face flush when he almost let slip Hatori's name, "I don't know the depth of the details dealing with it. My bronchial tubes are very sensitive and I was prone to frequent attacks when I was little."

Yuki paused again. "That's all I can remember." He added swiftly, knowing he shouldn't appear to remember everything.

Katsura nodded gently. "I understand. Well," she clasped her hands together, "I've got the perfect idea to start this lesson. A demonstration! Any volunteers?"

Shigure and Ayame grinned.

* * *

As soon as the bell rung, Yuki was the first one outside and down the stairs. It was time for lunch, and Yuki wasn't looking forward to eating with his cousins. His mind was too focused on remembering the conversation he had overheard between Hatori and the others.

)))_**Flashback**_  
"Er.. Yes, well, Ayame, that is quite enough…"

No response.

"Shigure, do stop. We've taken it a bit far. _Really._"

The boys were in an uproar when Ayame and Shigure had volunteered to do a demonstration. Mrs. Katsura was trying to teach them mouth to mouth resuscitation, and she didn't realize her mistake when she allowed Shigure and Ayame to demonstrate it.

Shigure had promptly gone into a fantastic imitation of someone having difficulty breathing, and promptly fell to the floor. Ayame had cried out loudly, and before Mrs. Katsura could tell him to keep it down, Ayame literally _pounced_ on Shigure, raving about Shigure leaving him for all eternity. All the boys' mouth dropped once Ayame kissed—or rather, banged his head against Shigure's. Shigure gave a pained groan, and Ayame promptly yelled that Shigure was dying if he didn't help him. On second try, their lips did connect, and Ayame was breathing air into him. Of course, neither of them paid attention when Mrs. Katsura had said to do it slowly and measured, and to NOT act like he was blowing a balloon.

Unfortunately, Ayame didn't get that last bit, and was doing nothing but blow air into the other's mouth. Hatori pinched the bridge of his nose, feeling a migraine build up slowly.

Yuki was more shocked than annoyed by the scene in front of him. He turned his head away and hummed a song under his breath to ignore the sounds of Ayame's _enthusiastic_ demonstration.

Needless to say, Mrs. Katsura had blown a casket and got everything under control. Grinning madly, the two promptly jumped up as if Ayame hadn't just done what he did (_You don't want to know_) and Shigure hadn't responded the way he did (_You really don't want to know_). Sitting down, they both gave Yuki a thumbs-up, and Yuki merely rolled his eyes at the gesture. "If that's supposed to make me feel safer when I have an attack, then I'd rather suffocate before you try _that_ on me." He spoke softly.

Hatori, on Yuki's other side, couldn't help but smile at the sarcastic comment. This Yuki Suyama wasn't that bad.

Mrs. Katsura rubbed the bridge of her nose, calmly telling herself that her blood pressure wasn't going to take this lightly. Taking deep breaths, she quickly told them to discuss with their partners about the best methods to help someone unconscious. That done, she quickly sat down on her chair.

_'I need a vacation. They don't pay me enough for this.' _Mrs. Katsura thought tiredly.

Yuki didn't bother turning to the others to discuss the lesson, and just lay his head on his desk. He could feel Hatori's presence stand up, and walk behind him, no doubt coming over to Shigure and Ayame to scold them about their display. Yuki let there words wash over him and could feel his eyes drooping—_!_

"…—reminds me of Yuki."

Yuki's eyes shot open. His face was covered by his arms; to everyone else around him, he looked to be taking a slight doze. _'Lucky for me then,'_ Yuki thought with some amusement. If he could just lean in a bit, he could hear what Hatori had just said, and relieve his fears of them talking about him.

"Your right Ha-san. He does remind us of little Yuki!"

Golden eyes slid away from the conversation, and the same golden eyes trained themselves on Yuki's bent head. A strand of white hair fell into his vision, and with golden eyes narrowed only slightly, he brushed it back.

"How is he, Ha-san?" Ayame asked nonchalantly, his golden eyes still trained on the head.

"Fine as far as I can tell." Hatori's voice was impassive. "He's still staying with Akito."

"Ah, I see."

The bell rang.  
(((_**End of flashback**_

Yuki wasn't in the mood for eating, he just needed to sit down and think about what's going on. He sat down on the grass, leaning against a school tree. _'I've got focus on what's going on. I don't belong in this time, my younger self does. What is my purpose for being here?'_

Yuki groaned softly, bringing up his knees close to his chest so he could rest his arms and head on top of it. He suddenly felt very cold. Cold and alone. Completely alone.

* * *

Ayame ate in silence, Shigure and Hatori also doing the same thing. When Ayame had remained silent throughout the walk to lunch and beginning, Shigure had automatically tried cheering him up. But nothing seemed to work. Hatori decided that Ayame would let them know since he seemed too preoccupied to talk anyway.

"Aya, what's wrong?" Shigure suddenly spoke up.

"…That boy."

"Who? Yuki? What about him?"

Ayame shook his head and gave them a bright smile. "Forget it. It's nothing Gure-san. Let's talk about something else, ne? Do you remember Katsura-san's reaction?"

The two immediately engaged in an animated discussion about it. Hatori remained silent and stood up. This, of course, got the other two's attention. "_Araa_, where are you going Hatori?"

"I'm just going to take a walk. I'll be back in a few minutes."

Hatori smiled and assured them that they didn't have to come with him. He wasn't planning on taking a walk. He was planning on looking for Yuki.

* * *

"So, how did your class go today, Katsura?" Akio asked curiously, taking a sip from his drink.

Katsura smiled. "Same as usual, Ayame and Shigure were at it again."

Akio laughed, knowing very well what she meant. "And Yuki? How was he?"

"Oh, he was very good. Polite and had the most pretty face I've seen on a boy. Reminded me of the Sohmas immediately. Ayame, you know." She paused. "No relation, am I correct?"

Akio nodded. "Yes, no relation. He's told me his family name is Suyama. I haven't yet met his parents as you apparently know. Oh, I never mentioned. He's staying with me."

Katsura looked surprised. "Really now? I never knew you had a nephew."

"Oh no, I'm acting as temporary guardian. Speaking of which, I should go check on him. See how he's adjusting." he glanced at his watch and groaned. "I just remembered I need to go back to class and give a few students the re-make test."

Mrs. Katsura stood up. "I'll go look for Yuki, Akio. I may be a woman, and not be able to talk about boys' stuff," she smiled fondly, "But I know how to talk to the sweet ones, and Yuki seems to be a very sweet boy." Akio stood and thanked her. Mrs. Katsura waved the thanks away and set off to look for him.

* * *

Hatori broke into a light jog. Lunch would end quickly if he didn't hurry. He hadn't realized how large the grounds were, and he'd had no luck finding Yuki. However, fate seemed to be in an understanding mood because he spotted Yuki sitting by the tree. He didn't want to run across the students who were sitting around, so he had to run around them.

He turned and almost ran into Mrs. Katsura. Luckily, he stopped himself just in time and stepped back to give to put some distance between them. Katsura blinked when she noticed Hatori's unusually ruffled state. It was a large departure from the neat Hatori she had grown accustom to.

"Hatori? What are you doing? I never knew you were on the track team."

Hatori blushed, "I'm not. Sorry, Katsura-san. I was just heading over to Yuki."

Katsura beamed. "I'm glad Yuki has friends. I'm on my way too, for Akio. He had wanted to check on him." They walked at a slow pace, slow in Hatori's opinion, towards Yuki's spot. "…—mention Yuki's with Akio?"

Hatori turned to her, "Excuse me?"

"Did I mention that Yuki's staying with Akio? I was quite surprised myself, but then again, Akio's always been a good man. Reminds me of my own son."

Hatori nodded absently. He hadn't known Yuki lived with Akio. They had absolutely no resemblance to each other. "Is Akio-san Yuki's uncle?"

"Oh! No, he's acting as a guardian, what with Yuki's amnesia and all. No parents, brothers, or sisters to speak of."

Hatori kept this piece of information in mind while he made a non-committal noise in response to Katsura's words. They finally arrived at Yuki's spot and saw that Yuki had fallen asleep against the tree. Katsura grinned and bent down to shake Yuki.

At her age, Mrs. Katsura wasn't as balanced as she used to be, and before she could help herself, she fell forward.

Yuki slept on, unaware of what was going to happen next.

Hatori could not stop it, for fear of revealing his secret.

Yuki's eyes flashed open, one second to take in his surroundings, and two to see Katsura falling towards him. Time seemed suspended as she fell towards him.

"NO!"

_**TBC**_

* * *

**AN: **Eek! What do you think is going to happen next? Only one way to find out and that's to read the next chapter! Thanks for reading! It'd be great to hear some feedback too!


	4. Unlikely Happenings

**Title:** Ripples by the Pond

**Author:** Gia

**Rating: **PG

**Pairing:** None.

**Time**: 90's. The Mabudachi Trio are in still in high school.

**Summary**: A wish Ayame made in the past sends Yuki reeling back in time. Finding himself sharing a class with the Mabudachi Trio themselves, Yuki must find a way to keep his secret hidden or risk losing himself in the past forever.

**Disclaimer**: The story here is non-profit and for purely entertainment purposes; nor is it affiliated to Takaya Natsuki, Hakusensha, or any other publishers of Fruits Basket. The characters belong to Takaya Natsuki and the plot belongs to me.

**Author's Notes:** Yes, I've gone back to re-write (re-word?) a lot of my chapters. For the new readers, the only important things (maybe basic things) to keep in my here are that Yuki is _in the past_ and will be entering the second year of high school with his brother. Now onto the story!

* * *

"Hatori's been gone for a while, hasn't he?" 

Shigure paused in his chewing. It was true, more than ten minutes had passed and yet no sign of their friend returning. Hatori wasn't the type to get held back by a student, not if he meant to return in time to eat his lunch before the bell tolled.

"Should we go look for him?"

Ayame nodded with an uncharacteristically serious expression. "I've got a bad feeling."

* * *

**Ripples by the Pond **

By Gia

_Chapter Four: Unlikely Happenings, New Faces_

* * *

Yuki closed his eyes as he mustered his courage. Without a thought, he reached out and caught Katsura in his arms. A tingle swept up his arms and Yuki was sure his cover was blown. He distantly heard the elderly woman thank him before extracting herself from his arms. 

'_Wait, that means…' _Yuki's eyes shot open when he realized exactly what her words meant.

He hadn't changed back.

Katsura stepped back when she took notice of his pale face. "Yuki? What's wrong?"

Yuki brought his hand to his chest. His lungs were constricting painfully at this new revelation. '_What's going on? Why hadn't he changed? What is going on?!' _

Yuki tried to sit up but only managed to fall back against the tree, desperately trying to breathe. He could barely hear the teacher's exclamations or notice the sound of running. It was only until he felt someone lean over him did he lift his head to look at the person.

Ayame's eyes were staring down at his, worry painted clearly over his brow. Yuki's eyes trailed down to Ayame's mouth; he was trying to make out the words that the other was saying. He shook his head as his body heaved with the effort of consuming much needed oxygen. His head slumped down as he passed out, one word passing through his lips though no one was close enough to hear it.

"Oniisan."

* * *

He was aware of someone speaking to him. An older man's voice. 

Yuki frowned when he realized he couldn't understand what was being said. He opened his eyes, blinking rapidly to clear his blurry vision. The first thing his eyes met was the white painted ceiling. He recognized this place. He was in the nurse's office. He shifted his head across the pillow so he could pay more attention to the people talking.

It only took Yuki a moment to realize it was Akio speaking. They—the nurse and Akio—had failed to notice his return to wakefulness so he pushed himself up into an upright position.

"Yuki, what happened?" Akio asked with some concern laced in his voice.

Yuki shook his head, not wanting to speak right now. He was too shocked. He hadn't transformed! How was that possible? What did it mean? Perhaps because he was a stranger to this time, only the true Yuki could transform. Yuki unconsciously chewed gently on his lower lip in concentration, ignoring Akio. Then what could his future presence do to affect this past, if it even could?

In his panic, he tied swinging himself off the cot. Akio immediately went to stop him but from a quick glare from Yuki, he stopped. Yuki noticed the hurt expression flit across Akio's face and immediately felt guilty. He hadn't meant to treat this man so coldly, not when he after everything Akio had done for him. Akio could've just turned him away when he first approached him but he didn't.

"I'm sorry."

Akio looked up at him. He had to admit that he did feel slightly hurt by that tone, but he knew how teenagers were, he had been one himself after all. "No, don't worry about it." He noticed Yuki's wary expression and tried smiling wider. "Just don't overexert yourself."

Yuki nodded, acknowledging Akio's concern. "I know. I'm going to take it easy. I'm fine, I really am. Can I…?" he let the question hang in the air.

Akio smiled. "Sure. I'll meet you in the parking lot. I'll just inform my students of my leave."

Yuki found himself naturally returning the smile. He slipped off the cot with minimal difficulty and walked out.

* * *

Hatori nodded absentmindedly at Ayame's and Shigure's words. The three were waiting outside, hoping to catch sight of Yuki. Hatori, on the other hand, wanted to see Yuki for different reasons. He remembered quite vividly what happened. The moment Mrs. Katsura had fallen against Yuki's arms, something in the air visibly… moved for lack of better word. 

It was as if, for just a moment, the air around Yuki had stilled and swept outward like a giant ripple. Hatori remembered that Yuki had closed his eyes in expectance, as if something was going to happen as a consequence of the woman falling into his arms.

Or maybe it was just his mind laying tricks on him? The latter didn't sound very nice to Hatori, but how else could you explain it logically? A wry grin curved his lips. Explain logically? No sane person could explain why certain Sohmas transformed in a logical way.

"Ha-san."

It wasn't a statement to get his attention. Ayame was discretely pointing out the figure of Yuki walking across the school yard, heading towards the parking lot. Hatori immediately stood up, the other two following.

"Let's go," Shigure spoke quietly.

* * *

Yuki kept his head bowed down as he headed to Akio's car. His first day of school hadn't turned out as smoothly as Yuki had hoped, but that was to be expected. Nothing cam easy when it came to the Sohmas. Upon reaching the passenger side of the car, Yuki leaned back against it, staring at his surroundings but not really registering what his eyes saw. 

Instead, his mind's eye traveled back to the event at the tree. He was still trying to come to terms with this new development. It should've been a huge relief for him but it was just too sudden. A person doesn't spend their entire life changing into an animal at the touch of a person of the opposite sex, and then find out that that was no longer the case. It just wasn't done.

He continued to stare before he realized that the three students he had dimly noted were walking straight towards him. These students were the last three people he wanted to see right now. Silently telling himself to gain back his composure, he turned to them with an expressionless look on his face.

Shigure was the first to speak. "Yuki! I—how are you doing now?" The boy smiled, trying to lighten the tense atmosphere when Hatori and Ayame met Yuki's eyes.

"Fine," Yuki responded lightly.

Silence.

"Yuki, we—"

Akio unexpectedly appeared beside Yuki, smiling cheerfully at the other boys. "Oh, all three Sohmas come to escort Yuki, eh?" Shigure and Ayame blinked at Akio, wondering why the teacher had appeared.

"He's Yuki's guardian." Hatori supplied.

Ayame glanced at Yuki, and he opened his mouth to say something when Yuki cut him off. "I'm sorry I'll have to cut this conversation short."

Shigure nodded understandingly, and added that he'd see Yuki tomorrow then. Akio smiled at the three Sohmas as they walked away before he turned to Yuki.

"Friends of yours?"

"Not really, no."

* * *

The next day came like any other day. Few clouds were present in the sky, and Yuki was yet again wondering why he even continued coming back to this school. His first month of school had been a bit bumpy, no thanks to the persistence of his relatives. Many of the students had known Yuki to be aloof from the other boys, but no matter his protests, he was still constantly hounded by the Mabudachi Trio. Yuki always managed to shake them off, but it was clear that his resolve was cracking under the slow strain. 

For example, the first week of school, the conversation between Yuki and the Sohmas':

_"Yuki! Would you--"_

_"No."_

_"Now Yuki, we haven't even--"_

_"No."_

To the slightly lighter conversation:

_"Yuki! Fancy seeing you here!"_

_Pause. "What do you want Ayame?"_

_"Why don't you sit with us for lunch? You never sit with anyone!" Ayame's smile melted away, and he continued quietly. "You should come, Yuki."_

_"I..." Yuki averted his eyes from Ayame's earnest face, "okay."_

The "Yuki and three" weren't even close to becoming a quartet, but it was the closest friendship Yuki carried. It was now October, and the endurance run would be scheduled for the following week. It brought vivid memories to Yuki about his memorable endurance run, what with the sudden appearance of—

"Haru!"

Yuki blinked out of his reverie from the window and turned around. He and the other three Sohmas were currently walking towards the cafeteria before Hatori had called out to—

"Haru, what are you doing here?"

Eyes almost bugging out, Yuki let his eyes trail down to the small figure of Hatsuharu Sohma. Haru was currently standing with a disinterested expression on his face while Hatori berated him about coming here. It was clear that Haru had gotten lost, though how, was always a mystery.

Yuki could feel the ends of his lips turning up in a smile, but he turned his head away from the scene. He vaguely heard Shigure make some comment or other followed by Haru's quiet reply. Wondering if the best thing was walking away now, Yuki was surprised to hear Haru direct a question towards him.

"Who are you?"

Yuki kept his back turned to Haru, but he raised his hand in greeting. "Just a friend of theirs."

"Now, Yuki, no need to say that." Ayame admonished casually. "Haru, this is our dear friend Yuki Suyama. Yuki, this is Haru Sohma."

"Nice to meet you." Haru spoke.

Dreading the consequence, Yuki turned around fully, and instinctively grasped Haru's outstretched hand. "Nice to meet you as well, Haru."

Yuki gave a strained smile at Haru's quiet, sharp intake of breath. No doubt Haru could see the resemblance between himself and… himself.

Yuki let go first and smiled down at the boy. He turned his head to the other three, "I will be making a stop at the library."

"Mou, Yuki, we're supposed to be eating lunch first!"

"We'll see you later then."

"Ah, Ha-san, why'd you have to go and say that?" Ayame whined.

Hatori remained quiet before turning to the silent Haru. "Well then Haru, I think we need to call the Main House."

Haru remained quiet, staring at the spot where Yuki last stood.

* * *

Kazuma smiled at the small boy sitting beside him in the car. "So, Haru, how was your little trip?" 

"Fine."

"It was stupid. How'd you get lost going to the _bathroom_?" a voice called from the backseat.

Kazuma looked at the rearview mirror to meet eyes with vermilion ones. "Kyou," He said warningly. A small 'humph!' was heard, which caused Kazuma to smile again. "From now on, Kyou, why don't you walk Haru to the bathroom? Yes, that would be the best arrangement."

"But—"

"It's already decided."

The sounds of light bickering between Kyou and Kazuma faded into the background for Haru. Today's events proved surprising for Haru, and he knew exactly that he needed to find out what exactly was so different with this Yuki Suyama.

_'Yuki Suyama. Hm...'

* * *

_

**TBC**

* * *

**AN:** I'm sorry it's so short! But I had to get this out as soon as I could so I wouldn't leave people in suspense, besides I need to work on updating ALL my stories, ne? I hope you liked this chapter, and I look forward to reading what you think about this chapter!


	5. Innocent Tag

**Title:** Ripples by the Pond

**Author:** Gia

**Rating: **PG

**Pairing:** None.

**Time**: 90's. The Mabudachi Trio are in still in high school.

**Summary**: A wish Ayame made in the past sends Yuki reeling back in time. Finding himself sharing a class with the Mabudachi Trio themselves, Yuki must find a way to keep his secret hidden or risk losing himself in the past forever.

**Disclaimer**: The story here is non-profit and for purely entertainment purposes; nor is it affiliated to Takaya Natsuki, Hakusensha, or any other publishers of Fruits Basket. The characters belong to Takaya Natsuki and the plot belongs to me.

**Author's Notes:** Yes, I've gone back to re-write (re-word?) a lot of my chapters. For the new readers, the only important things (maybe basic things) to keep in my here are that Yuki is _in the past_ and will be entering the second year of high school with his brother. Now onto the story!

* * *

The weather was bright, green leaves trailing down from the limbs that once held them. The echo of children's' laughter could be heard under the watchful gaze of trees. The children were playing a game of tag. It was amusing to see a single child, blind-folded, chasing after the others. However, one child in particular was standing away. This child was a seven-year-old Yuki. 

He was watching from behind the wooden door, which was slightly ajar, and he couldn't help but feel saddened that he wasn't allowed to play. It looked like fun, but that wasn't the reason he wanted to play in the first place. Yuki wanted to play with children of his own age. He wanted—

Yuki paused.

He felt a prickling at the back of his neck, as if someone was staring at him from behind. His hand that was resting on the side of the door gripped it harder. He knew Akito's presence. It always seemed to choke the very life from him.

A hand drifted onto his shoulder. "Yuki," a cool voice cooed mockingly, "Do you want to play outside?"

The hand placed on his shoulder did nothing threatening, but just Akito's presence was enough to make Yuki want to jump. However, he did want to go back outside...

"Y-Yes."

There was no reply to his hesitant one, but to his surprise Akito stepped back and left the room through the same door that stood jar. Yuki finally watched as Akito walked away down the hall. It was a rarity that Akito let him go out this time. It made Yuki wonder what made Akito change his mind this time. Sighing deeply, Yuki allowed a smile to creep over his face.

He was going to play!

With a loud childish giggle that threatened to turn into more giggling, he hurried out towards the children.

* * *

**Ripples by the Pond **

By Gia

_Chapter Five: Innocent Tag, Suspicion Begins_

* * *

The sounds of high school clashed together inside the classroom. They're scheduled class, Physiology, was free because the teacher was currently sick. It was too short notice to get a substitute, so the boys would get a free day. And of course, the Mabudachi wasn't going to let this pass. Ayame was currently engaged in telling the boys' the story of something obviously made up, but it was always hard to tell when Ayame did speak. 

Yuki had tried to pay attention to the book laid out on his desk, but he couldn't help but feel a spark of interest in Ayame's story. He looked up over towards where Ayame was sitting; his brother was gesticulating rapidly, eyes bright with enthusiasm. Yuki had seen that same expression countless of times but this time, Yuki didn't feel any annoyance or irritation. He'd never admit it aloud, but Ayame did have a certain knack for storytelling.

He kept his eyes fixed on his brother and when Ayame turned his head to face the other boys surrounding him, he caught Yuki's eyes.

Yuki blinked rapidly when he realized he was caught. He couldn't very well turn away—he wasn't a child!—but there was nothing to be done for the light blush that suffused his cheeks.

"Yuki," Ayame noted with a pleased grin, "do you like my story?"

Yuki's blush intensified and he nodded quickly before focusing determinedly on the book in front of him. Ayame smiled gently at the bowed head and turned back to the boys and continued speaking.

About fifteen minutes later when Ayame had just finished wrapping up his story, the bell rang. It didn't take long for Yuki to gather his books and slip them into his bag. He was determined to spend some time in the library, if only to have a lunch free of the presence of his relatives. But before Yuki could so much as get up from his desk, two arms were suddenly hooked under his own. Ayame and Shigure were on either side of him. "Ready to go to lunch, Yuki?" Ayame asked coyly.

Shigure nodded emphatically. "We brought homemade egg rolls from Ayame's home. It's a true culinary delight."

Yuki stiffened at the mention of Ayame's home. It suddenly reminded him that he didn't belong here. Ayame must have noticed the sudden change, because he changed the topic. "Forget about that now. Just sit with us."

He leaned his face closer to Yuki's own face. "We'll have _fun_…"

Ayame's voice had dropped low at the end, adding a husky tone to his voice. He stared down into Yuki's eyes.

Yuki's own eyes widened.

The whole scene broke down when Ayame smiled as if nothing had happened. It was effective enough to stun Yuki and drag him outside to eat lunch. Yuki sighed tiredly, when Shigure and Ayame continued their antics. He did grin, however, when he heard Shigure mention that Ayame was cheating on him.

* * *

"Your form sucks." Kyou said matter-of-factly, staring at Hatsuharu. 

Kazuma smiled amusedly. Kyou had yet to learn to curb his bluntness when speaking to others. "Kyou," he said firmly, "Don't say that. Haru is improving fine without your commentary."

Kyou made a sound of agreement, while averting his eyes. To pretend like he couldn't feel Kazuma's amused stare, he blew a strand of hair away from his face.

The practicing continued well into the afternoon until Kazuma called it over. He had a few errands to run, and told Kyou to watch over Haru while he was gone. Kyou had quickly told him that he wasn't Hatsuharu's keeper, but since he _was_ the more mature one, he would do it. Laughing gently, he patted both Kyou and Haru's head and left.

As soon as Kazuma left, Haru turned to Kyou. "Let's go!"

Kyou narrowed his eyes. "Go where? We're staying right here." he crossed his arms over his chest.

Hatsuharu shrugged. "Fine then. I'll go to him by myself. At least _I'm_ not a wimp." he casually turned around, and strode purposefully away from the boy.

"WAIT!" Kyou angrily called. He hurried over to Haru and gave him a light shove. "I'm not a wimp! And who are you going to?"

Haru smiled. "Yuki, of course."

"Wha—_hey_! Wait for me!" Kyou was getting ready to tell Haru that he didn't want to see the stupid rat, but it seemed Haru was already a ways ahead of him. Both young boys headed out, Kyou leading this time, and set out to find Yuki.

* * *

Yuki laughed with the rest of the children, as the girl who was caught had to put on the blindfold. He was wonderfully exhausted. His breathing may have been a bit harsher than the other children, but that wouldn't stop him from having fun. His cheeks were quite flushed, and strands of his hair were in disarray but it was all a great experience for Yuki. 

"Ready or not, here I come!" the now blindfolded girl called.

The children screamed childishly and everyone spread out to hide.

* * *

Surprisingly, only Hatori, Shigure, and Yuki were seated under one of the school trees. Ayame had been called away to attend a quick meeting and hadn't returned yet. It proved to be a very different type of conversation when Ayame wasn't around. Yuki was treated to a sight of seeing Shigure act serious. Now, Yuki had never pegged Shigure for the serious type, not to what he'd seen at Shigure's house, but it was nice to finally see him act normal. 

"Ne, Ha-san, Ayame's not here." He winked suggestively.

"No matter what you say, it will always reek of something illegal." Hatori spoke back calmly.

Yuki allowed himself a smile. He was sitting a bit father apart from the two when he had noticed them carrying a serious conversation. But it seemed as though the conversation was over now.

"Oi! Aya's back!" Shigure who had his head turned had spotted Ayame who was heading over to them.

"The meeting wasn't too long, luckily," Ayame spoke while taking a seat, "it was mainly to talk about the class field trip that would be coming up soon."

Yuki froze. Inwardly, his mind went back to the time Ayame had visited. He had told a story about a field trip incident that went awry. But then again, there could've been other field trips before that momentous one. Yuki berated himself for jumping to conclusions so quickly before focusing his attention back to the conversation.

"—wouldn't go. It's going to be somewhere in the beginning of November. I'm much too busy, what with preparing for the New Year's Banquet and…" Ayame suddenly paused.

Yuki looked up from his idle staring. He was quick enough to catch Hatori give Ayame a curt nod and Yuki quickly realized that the New Year's Banquet must be kept quiet. Not to mention, he wasn't supposed to know about it. The atmosphere suddenly turned oppressive.

Shigure tried to remedy the broken conversation and turned it towards Yuki. "Yuki, even though it's a long time till New Year's, what plans do you have for it?"

Yuki took his time to think. He had assumed that he'd stay at Akio's home, but what if he wanted to visit his family? Would he take Yuki? It wouldn't be very polite to impose on Akio's family.

Yuki shrugged lightly. "I'm not doing anything."

Hatori raised an eyebrow. "Kentarou-san is known for visiting his family. Aren't you going with him?"

Yuki found himself blushing uneasily, "No, I think I'll just be," he paused, "at home. It's fine."

Ayame looked regretful, as did Shigure. _This is not helping_, Yuki thought sadly, _I shouldn't have tried living normally here. I have to do…something. At least stop lying to Akio._

He stood up abruptly. "I'll be right back." he quickly said, noticing Ayame made a move to stand as well. Just as he was about to take a step back, it seemed like everything slowed down.

"Yuki!" Ayame called alarmingly.

Hatori and Shigure looked up.

* * *

"Come on, Haru, I think he's over here." Kyou called over his shoulder. They pushed they're way through the bushes, and spied a medium-sized group of children playing tag. Haru was quick to pick out Yuki and pointed him out to Kyou. 

The two boys leaned away from the bushes. "Okay, we're here." Kyou said. "What did you want to come here for?"

"I just needed to ask him a question."

"Is that all?" Kyou said with as much exasperation as a seven-year-old could muster.

Haru nodded seriously, making Kyou want to bash his head into a nearby tree. "Fine then. Follow me. I don't want to be seen."

Kyou led them along the line of green bushes to get around to where Yuki was standing. Haru quickly pushed away the leaves and stepped towards Yuki.

Yuki noticed Haru's untimely appearance with surprise. "Haru? What are you—"

The blind-folded girl took this moment to run forward.

Straight at Haru.

Kyou watched all of this from behind the bush with widening eyes. Haru turned his head toward the approaching girl. The children were too caught up in the game to notice the appearance of a new boy.

"Haru—_no!_" Yuki turned and pushed Haru away into the same bush Kyou was in. The girl turned at the yell and tripped over the rock. With a small squeal, she landed right on top of Yuki.

* * *

To the Mabudachi's astonishment, they watched as Yuki seemed to slow down. Literally. It was as if he alone were moving in slow motion. The air around him seemed to displace itself and create a ripple effect that pushed everyone back. Yuki fell back onto the ground heavily.

* * *

All the children froze at the flash of light before turning around to investigate the small pile of clothes. Yuki, in his zodiac form, could be seen standing atop his own clothes staring around with wide eyes. 

From behind the bush, Kyou and Haru picked themselves up from the ground. Haru was still staring at the scene, but Kyou was tugging insistently on his arm.

"We have to go!" Kyou hissed.

"But…Yuki, he—"

"I _know_!" Kyou hissed, still tugging. "We have to tell someone!"

Haru could only manage one more glance at Yuki's small form atop his clothes before he was dragged away.

* * *

Ayame immediately rushed over to Yuki and helped the groaning boy up into a sitting position. "Yuki?" 

Squinting with his eyes shut, Yuki opened them. He could feel Ayame holding him up by putting his arm behind his own shoulders. He could feel Ayame's concerned gaze but he didn't have the heart to look up.

Hatori made to stand up but a yell caught his attention. One of the upperclassmen was heading in their direction. A tall boy stopped to catch his breath and addressed Hatori. "There's a call from your home, they need you to return immediately."

Shigure looked up sharply and met eyes with Hatori. There was a pregnant pause before Hatori nodded and followed the boy away. Shigure looked back to see Ayame helping Yuki stand up.

_If I didn't know better,_ Shigure thought wonderingly, _I would say the two were related._ His eyes watched as Yuki nodded to a question Ayame asked. _There is definitely something different about Yuki. __I think I should keep an eye on him. Hatori may be right._

* * *

**_TBC_**

* * *

**AN: **THE END OF THE CHAPTER! Hope everyone enjoyed the events so far. I'd love to hear what everyone thought! 


	6. Memories and Confessions

**Title:** Ripples by the Pond

**Author:** Gia

**Rating: **PG

**Pairing:** None.

**Time**: 90's. The Mabudachi Trio are in still in high school.

**Summary**: A wish Ayame made in the past sends Yuki reeling back in time. Finding himself sharing a class with the Mabudachi Trio themselves, Yuki must find a way to keep his secret hidden or risk losing himself in the past forever.

**Disclaimer**: The story here is non-profit and for purely entertainment purposes; nor is it affiliated to Takaya Natsuki, Hakusensha, or any other publishers of Fruits Basket. The characters belong to Takaya Natsuki and the plot belongs to me.

**Author's Notes:** Yes, I've gone back to re-write (re-word?) a lot of my chapters. For the new readers, the only important things (maybe basic things) to keep in my here are that Yuki is _in the past_ and will be entering the second year of high school with his brother. Now onto the story!

* * *

Yuki blinked, staring up at the now gigantic figures of the children he had been playing with. The girls had their hands over their mouths, and some boys were pointing at the sight of a small rat standing on his clothes. Yuki could do nothing more than stare back at them, his tiny heart beating fast at the sudden turn of events.

He scanned behind them, hoping to catch sight of Hatsuharu or Kyou. With neither boy in sight, Yuki's small hope of being saved left him. He could change back in any minute, or one of them could go find someone and him what they saw.

'_Then the secret would be out!' _thought Yuki, despairing. _'Please, someone, help me!'_

* * *

**Ripples by the Pond **

By Gia

_Chapter Six: Memories and Confessions_

* * *

The sight of trees went unnoticed to two speeding figures. Kyou and Haru, the former leading, were running as fast as their little legs would allow getting to someone. Hatsuharu nearly fell but Kyou was keeping a firm grip on his hand so they wouldn't be slowed down. They were nearing the same spot they had been practicing with Kazuma, and fortunately for them, he was heading their as well.

Stopping to catch his breath, Kyou immediately called out to Kazuma. Said person looked up at the breathless exclamation, and was surprised to see both boys looking as if they'd been running for miles. Picking up the pace a bit, he stopped in front of Kyou. He bent down to eye-level with Kyou and asked him what was wrong.

"It's Yuki!" Kyou said after a deep breath. He wasn't used to calling the other boy that, not by his name alone at least.

At Kyou's response, Kazuma's expression turned serious. He put both hands on Kyou's shoulder as if to convey how serious he was. "What is it Kyou? What about Yuki? Is he sick?"

"No!" Haru called out from beside Kyou. "He changed! In front of the other kids!"

Kazuma froze.

He stood up as abruptly as he had paused. "Kyou, watch Haru and stay here. I will be back soon. Understand?"

Kyou nodded uncertainly, and could only watch as Kazuma headed towards the main house. Haru watched as well, and seeing Kazuma's form disappear into the home, promptly sat down on the ground with a huff. There's silence between the two boys, until Haru looks up at Kyou who is still staring in the direction of where the adult had run off to.

"What's going to happen now Kyou?"

Kyou crossed his arms, and sat down easily beside Haru.

"I don't know." Kyou paused, looking up at the Main House, "but he's going to be in a lot of trouble."

It needn't be said that he was talking about Yuki.

Haru followed Kyou's gaze to the Main House and hoped Yuki would be okay.

* * *

A warm breeze blew back Ayame's hair from his face. He was walking home alone today. Shigure had stayed back with a teacher on finding one of Shigure's more—interesting stories lying around. Since the incident at lunch, Ayame had taken Yuki to Akio. He had only given a brief account to Akio about what had happened before leaving. Akio was going to take Yuki home.

Ayame let his eyes stare ahead unseeingly, as he made his way to the gate of the Sohma House. '_Today was certainly an odd one',_ Ayame mused to himself. He had decided to head home early, and get to practice his New Year's Dance. It was still a while till the day would be near, but like all other zodiac members, he practiced early. His mother and father were out, surprisingly, but Ayame didn't pause to dwell on it. He immediately headed to his room to leave his school bag and change into something more comfortable.

After getting changed, he headed back out to the empty house next to their home. It wasn't really a house, just an exceptionally large room with four walls and a roof. It was used for New Year's Dance practices, so it was mainly empty and neat.

He pulled back his hair and started with some stretches. He'd spend some nice time alone today.

* * *

A seven-year-old Yuki stood before Akito. He had tears sliding down his face, and his hands were clenched to keep from sniffling. The time since he changed to where he stood now was a fast blur for Yuki. He had been rescued by none other than Kazuma, who had come in at just the right moment before Yuki changed. Kazuma had a long robe with him and immediately draped it over Yuki.

Fortunately for him, the children had gone silent at the sight of a grown-up, and it eased them a bit at Kazuma's disarming smile. "Come now, your parents are here to pick you up."

It was obviously a lie, but after a quick word with Akito, he knew what had to be done. The children were too overwhelmed to be confused at his statement. They're parents coming was a big comfort for their stunned minds.

* * *

Hatori thanked the man who had driven him home. A distant relative of some sorts, but he wasn't sure. The Sohma family was large enough that knowing everyone would be an impossible feat. He went straight to the main door and was greeted by a grim Kazuma.

"What's going on?" he demanded.

Kazuma remained silent, but motioned for him to follow. He was lead into another room and was surprised to see Yuki there, and even more to see Akito standing over him. He could feel Kazuma tense at the sight beside him, but he refrained from saying anything. Akito seemed ready to say something to Yuki who was kneeling down respectfully, but paused.

Silence.

"Hatori, how nice of you to join us."

Hatori resisted the urge to shudder at Akito's tone.

Akito gazed at Hatori appraisingly, though for what reason, was left unsaid. Akito smiled slowly, "It seems there is a slight problem. There are some children you need to take care of Hatori."

Akito glanced down at Yuki, seeing the boy clench his hands tighter.

Hatori glanced at the two of them sharply. Akito passed Yuki and walked closer to both Hatori and Kazuma.

"Take care of their precious memories, Hatori. I can trust that there will no mistakes, hmm? Lead him there."

The last line was directed to Kazuma. Both nodded respectfully.

Akito smiled again and called for Yuki without bothering to turn around. With a small sniffle, Yuki stood up. He walked placidly to Akito and stopped behind him. Hatori resisted the urge to look down at him and give him a reassuring smile. The two, Hatori and Kazuma, were torn between staying and going to the other children. Akito frowned at the two's immobile positions.

"What are you waiting for?" he snapped. "See to them immediately."

It snapped them into leaving, but Akito didn't bother letting them go out first. He took Yuki's wrist tightly, making the boy give a small cry of pain, and led him out. Hatori only had a chance to hear Yuki say "Please—_!_" before the two disappeared.

Kazuma put a hand on Hatori's shoulder.

"We have to go Hatori."

Hatori nodded and they headed to the room that held the waiting children.

* * *

Akio glanced at Yuki from the corner of his eye. The mood in the car was very quiet, too quiet to his liking. He had been worried that Yuki may be very sick, from Ayame's explanation, but Yuki was just quiet. When they got down from there car, Yuki obediently waited for Akio to open the door to the house and instantly went inside to head to his room.

"Yuki, wait." Akio called. He set down his keys after closing the door behind himself.

Yuki paused in his quick stride, and sighed heavily. It was best to tell Akio now, before another incident happened again. He turned back around to face Akio with a solemn expression. "Akio-san, there's something I must tell you."

Akio blanched at the sudden tone, and wondered what exactly happened. His mind immediately replayed Ayame's recap of the incident.

**"-fell down! Yuki seemed so drained of energy. I had to help him up-"**

_Drained?_ Akio asked himself. _Help him UP? Could this be slang for something.._

**"-I told Yuki to take it slow, he did seemed tired. I guess Gure-san and I were a bit harsh-"**

'_He couldn't have meant… no…'_ Akio shook his head frantically, unaware of Yuki's raised eyebrow to his odd behavior.

**"-I guess we shouldn't have done it outside. Maybe it was too cold out for Yuki. We should've stayed inside instead-"**

'_NO! Everything Ayame said pointed to one thing!'_

Akio stared at Yuki hard. Yuki stared back at him confusedly. Akio made mental notes to himself. Yuki did seem tired, and his clothes looked a bit rumpled—but Ayame said Yuki had fallen—OH GODS!

…Did he…?

….oh boy.

Akio motioned for Yuki to sit down on the couch, while he sat opposite of him. There was no going around this. It was painfully obvious what Yuki was going to confess to him. He immediately thought out what he was going to say, and then prompted Yuki to talk.

Yuki took a deep breath. He had thought about how he was going to tell Akio about how he wasn't from this time in the car, and now that he was here getting ready to tell the truth… it was terrifying. But there was no turning back now.

"Akio I'm—_!_"

"I know," Akio responded instantly.

Yuki paused."You know?"

"Yes, and Yuki I'm perfectly alright with it."

"You're alright with… it?"

"Yes," Akio repeated firmly, "I'm completely aware of it and I'm perfectly fine in handling it."

Yuki was at a loss. He had imagined all types of scenarios with Akio's reaction to finding out that he was from the future. But this?

"I thought you wouldn't handle it well, seeing as how I kept it a secret since I met you."

Akio inwardly blanched. That long, huh? That just made him feel like an idiot. However, it didn't matter now. What's important was that he was a comforting guardian.

"It's alright. I'm sure everyone with a secret like yours would keep it closely guarded."

Now Yuki was _really_ confused. '_A secret like mine? How many people can say that they're from the future?'_

"So.. You're okay with this?" Yuki asked slowly, "You don't have any questions?"

Akio felt his face heat up, but as his duty as Yuki's guardian, he had to ask.

"Did you use protection?" he blurted out.

"What?" came Yuki's shocked cry.

Akio was grabbing at straws here, how was he supposed to ask it without actually saying it?

"Uh, well I'm not at an age where I don't understand a young man's desires." A noticeable bead of sweat appeared at Akio's temple.

"Akio, what are you talking about? Are we even talking about the same thing?"

Akio furrowed his brow. "So you're not gay?"

"…What."

"Well, I thought with you and Ayame," Akio's eyes trailed away from Yuki's as an uncharacteristic blush came to his face, "getting to know each other."

He trailed off with a significant pause.

"_NO!_ Where would you get that idea?"

"So you didn't…?"

"No."

"And we're not talking about…?"

"_No._"

"Then what are we talking about…?"

Yuki rubbed his face; he could feel a headache coming on.

"Look, Akio-san, what I was trying to tell you. I… I didn't really lose my memory." '_Good,'_ Yuki thought to himself, '_start small and work my way up.'_

Akio looked surprised.

"You haven't? Well, that's," Akio scrambled for an appropriate word, "interesting. So things aren't so complicated after all, eh?"

Yuki gave a weak laugh, "And I'm from the future."

"…Eh?"

Yuki sighed. This was going to take awhile.

* * *

Akito was somewhere ahead of him, behind a paper wall. Yuki could still make out the silhouette of Akito, but he himself stood outside.

"Akito-sama… am I really that strange?" he looked up at the silhouette. "Am I so strange that we have to hide it from everyone?"

"Hmph… Yes. You are that strange. A human who turns into a rat?" The cool voice cut through Yuki like a knife, but he remained silent.

"What do you think they would do? Really? You're a freak. They wouldn't come near you… They'd hate you."

Yuki nodded to the words. Although spoken from a child like himself, it lacked something. Regardless, Akito's word was law. It was truth. He really was a freak. And there was no chance of him being liked, nor loved.

No chance at all.

* * *

"And ever since, I've just stayed with you and pretended everything was okay." Yuki ended.

It was a very long tale to tell, since Akio would stop him every now and then with questions. At first, Akio had thought it was a joke. Something anyone would do if told. But, after much words exchanged, Yuki managed to convince him. Now he was faced with telling the story.

But that was over now. He had said everything he needed to say, and he felt slightly better that at least someone knew the truth. He didn't know how Akio knowing would be any better… it did help to know someone just knew. Was aware.

Akio leaned back against the couch, trying to let everything sink in. From the future… is such a thing even possible? He turned back to Yuki, who looked just as drained as he felt. "Is there anything else, Yuki? Do you know why you're even here?"

Yuki shook his head no. He silently debated as to whether he should mention of his relation to the Sohmas'. Would that change something important?

Yuki smiled bitterly. He'd already changed many things. Yuki figured that it would be better to dish out the truth in small doses. _Akio looks like he's already taken in a lot. I… will save it for later…_

"Well," Akio clapped his hands together, "it's clear that I should help you with this. The only thing I can do to help, is to find out why you're here. Do you remember anything? From your where you were last? Or what you did last?"

Yuki stopped to think about this. Nothing particularly extraordinary that would cause something like this, Yuki assumed. He had gone to bed right after leaving… his brother. He frowned to himself.

Akio noticed the expression and quickly changed the subject. "It's already getting dark, what say I go make dinner? We can talk about it tomorrow, hmm?"

Yuki nodded in thanks. Smiling, he stood up to change. Maybe things wouldn't be as hectic as he thought it would be.

Maybe everything would be alright after all.

* * *

**TBC**


	7. Unexpected Field Trip

**Title:** Ripples by the Pond

**Author:** Gia

**Rating: **PG

**Pairing:** None.

**Time**: 90's. The Mabudachi Trio are in still in high school.

**Summary**: A wish Ayame made in the past sends Yuki reeling back in time. Finding himself sharing a class with the Mabudachi Trio themselves, Yuki must find a way to keep his secret hidden or risk losing himself in the past forever.

**Disclaimer**: The story here is non-profit and for purely entertainment purposes; nor is it affiliated to Takaya Natsuki, Hakusensha, or any other publishers of Fruits Basket. The characters belong to Takaya Natsuki and the plot belongs to me.

**Author's Notes:** Yes, I've gone back to re-write (re-word?) a lot of my chapters. For the new readers, the only important things (maybe basic things) to keep in my here are that Yuki is _in the past_ and will be entering the second year of high school with his brother. Now onto the story!

* * *

"Ah! My fortune today doesn't look so good," Akio scanned the newspaper in front of him, "it's so bad!"

Yuki sighed heavily, trekking past him while rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. "You're past that age of believing those phony fortunes, Akio-san."

Akio ignored him, continuing to exclaim about how unlucky the rest of the day would be.

"Try to stay out of trouble today Yuki, I have a feeling things will be tough!"

"Sure," Yuki muttered, "but I think you'll be disappointed. It's just another day."

* * *

**Ripples by the Pond **

By Gia

_Chapter Seven: Unexpected Field Trip, Disaster Averted?_

* * *

The sound of a school bell ringing cut through the quiet of the outside hallways. It signified the second period, but it was ignored by seven scheming boys. They thought themselves superior, untouchable—the ultimate bad boys. The leader of the boys, Saizo Makoto, was whipping up yet another ploy to show that the rules didn't matter to them. Especially him. Rules could just rot in hell, in his opinion. He brushed back black strands that kept falling in front of his face and regarded his fellow partners-in-crime. The sound of the bell ringing again announced the beginning of the period and anyone entering would be tardy.

Grinning, he motioned to a fire exit door. With a little bit of handy work, he was guaranteed that the door would not trigger the alarm. The other boys followed his lead and they stepped out into the brisk air. The beginning of November always promised colder air, but they were prepared for it. Saizo grinned, this was their biggest plan yet. He felt like he was the king of the world right now. The adrenaline was pumping through his very veins, making him energized at the very prospect of sneaking out of school. He motioned for the others to form a huddle while he told them of his plan. Their special little field trip.

Unbeknownst to the boys, Yuki "Suyama" was heading in their direction.

Yuki sighed tiredly, coughing into his hand. He hadn't wanted to come to school late, but Akio had made him promise that if he felt sick he would tell him so he could drop him off. Just to make sure he didn't get to school by lunch, he took some medicine. Now, here he was suffering the effects of drowsiness the medicine induced and he was already late for second period. It didn't make matters any better when cold wind blew at Yuki harshly.

He was just about to step through the front doors when he noticed some boys huddle around the corner. Ignoring the urge to keep going, he stepped closer to the corner of the building to hear what was being said.

"The old man is already senile, Naoto," Saizo assured, "he won't be too hard to convince about going with our little plan."

The other boys laughed together. They were thrilled at the idea, a little apprehensive, but the sudden camaraderie this plan invoked was too fun to be had. Yes, they were breaking the rules. Yes, they might be caught. But what did it matter if you had friends by your side?

One of the boys spook up. "Did you ask if Ayame is coming?"

It was at that moment, Yuki stepped back. His heart was beating wildly. '_Ayame! Was he a part of this? I thought he said that he wasn't.' _

Yuki took another step back, not bothering to wait and listen to the rest of the conversation. '_What should I do?'_

Before he could continue his train of thought, he noticed Hatori standing nearby, uaware of Yuki's position. He thought he must look odd peering around the building, looking like he was spying on someone. Praying that Hatori didn't see him, he quickly turned and headed back into the school.

Meanwhile, Saizo shrugged indifferently. "Ayame said he didn't want to come this time. But that's okay."

The headed in the same direction Yuki had taken, and didn't notice Hatori's surprised expression at seeing both Yuki and the famed school breakers coming from the same direction.

* * *

Ayame pulled his hair behind him to keep it away from his face as he headed towards the library. They're class was canceled since the teacher was sick from the cold weather, so all the students were allowed a free period. Rather than be pleased like he normally was, his mind was occupied with the incident that occurred a few weeks ago.

He opened the door to the library and mechanically headed to an empty table and sat down. He rested his elbows on the table, and put his head on his upturned palms. Eyes watched unseeingly through the window as his mined replayed the incident.

**)))Flashback**

Ayame allowed his bare feet to become relaxed as he imagined the music playing in his mind. Smiling gently, he allowed himself to be carried by the music. His movements were slow at first, almost lethargic although he wasn't tired. However, he knew the beats of this song by heart and was positive that the beat would quicken so he allowed himself to whirl with the silent music. However, before he could truly get into the music, the sound of the door sliding open caught his attention.

Almost faltering, he kept his dance going. His own eyes widened slightly at the sight of Akito and his younger brother. Now he knew he couldn't stop in his dance in Akito's presence. He turned his head away and proceeded to continue his performance faster. With his eyes closed. He hadn't noticed Yuki's sad face, or the sudden hopeful look it attained at the sight of him. He was never aware of how Yuki felt. It bothered him to a certain degree, how he saw so little of Yuki. He was always either sick and kept away from the other Sohmas', or with Akito.

He kept the frown from forming on his face and continued unhindered with his dance. Now that he thought about it, it was almost unnatural the way Akito occupied Yuki's time. Yes, Yuki may be the most revered in the zodiac- but what did it imply some sort of bond between the bearer of the curse and the one most revered for having the curse?

Before Ayame could continue that particular train of thought, something told him to open his eyes. Frowning to himself, he did and was only able to catch Akito leading Yuki out the room. His eyes had caught Akito holding tightly to Yuki's wrist. And to his shock, he noticed the pain and blame in Yuki's eyes.

**End of flashback(((**

After that, Ayame hadn't known what to think anymore. He'd always been uncomfortable with the fact that he knew and saw so little of his younger brother. And he, albeit when he himself was younger, had been a bit resentful at the attention Yuki attracted. He just didn't have the _time_ to spend with Yuki. There was no chance for them to develop anything solid meaningful.

'_But maybe',_ Ayame shut his eyes, '_maybe I should've tried to spend the time.'_

* * *

Yuki ignored the teacher's lecture on mathematics, his mind preoccupied with what he had overheard. He had wracked his memories for the time Ayame had told a story about this incident. Ayame had specifically said that they hadn't gone. Could his being here have changed events?

"Suyama Yuki!"

His head snapped up at the teacher's irritated face.

"I'm sorry," Yuki apologized, bowing his head, "it won't happen again."

The teacher returned to his lecture and Yuki returned to his thoughts. Yuki had to break the rules. He was going to go on that trip and convince Ayame not to go. He didn't know why he had the sudden impulse to make sure Ayame wasn't in trouble. All he knew was that he needed to do something before something serious happened.

* * *

Ayame had quickly left the library to take a much needed walk. His feet didn't lead him outside, however, it lead him to an empty classroom that he always knew was kept unlocked. He didn't have the time to wonder over the reasons, just that it was perfect to be alone. He remembered vaguely that he told Shigure he needed to think. Shigure just smiled understandingly before announcing that he was going to bother Ha-san.

Now here he was, spending quality time with an empty classroom. Nonetheless, his solitude was interrupted by two boys. Ayame recognized both boys instantly. Saizo Makoto and Naoto Shina.

"Ayame! Just the man I'm looking for!" Saizo yelled. "You wouldn't believe our stroke of luck. The driver of the bus, some old man, had to leave because his brother or something is sick. But hey, Naoto somehow convinced the guy to leave his keys. Stupid old man." He laughed.

Ayame sighed under his breath. Saizo said rude things like that often, but Ayame knew he never meant it to be too offensive. There were certain things about Saizo that always threw someone off. He just wasn't one to be understood.

"Anyway," Saizo continued, "we're heading out now. You sure you aren't coming?"

"Completely." Ayame responded with uncharacteristic seriousness. He stood up fluidly and exited the room.

Saizo was undeterred and commented aloud that it must be a bad day for him. He turned and caught sight of another boy. Nao stepped up beside Saizo. "Who is that?"

The question was answered when said boy stepped up to them. Yuki Suyama. Saizo blinked in surprise but composed himself.

"What are you doing here?"

Yuki takes a deep breath. "Look, I know about your plan."

Saizo does a double-take. "Hey, if you're going to squeal on us," he started warningly.

"I'm not." Yuki replied with a bland tone. "I, I want to come too."

Naoto, suspicion written in his face, opened his mouth to protest but was swiftly cut off by Saizo. "Hm… Didn't know you had it in you, Suyama. We'll be meeting outside, and the other guys' should be out there by now. You really coming?"

"Yes. I am."

Saizo laughs. "Well, might as well introduce ourselves to our newest member, eh Naoto?"

Naoto shrugged, still staring at Yuki warily. Saizo shook his head in amusement, "This idiot over here is Naoto Shina."

Saizo instinctively ducked from Naoto's hand that was obviously going to hit him upside the head.

"And I'm of course, Saizo Makoto. No need to ask who you are."

Yuki blinked, rewinding what Saizo had just said. _Did he just say Makoto?_ _As in Makoto Takei, the school president in my present time?_ "Saizo…"

"Hm?"

"You don't happen to have a younger brother, do you?"

"Yeah, I do! His name's Takei." Saizo looked at Yuki oddly. "How did you know?"

"No reason really." Yuki couldn't help but smile inwardly at the irony. How ironic that the school's rebel will have a younger brother who ends up as one of the strictest rule abiders.

Saizo continued to look at Yuki oddly, but finally snapped into action. "Come on, I'm sure the others will be waiting now."

* * *

Hatori was sitting at a table in the library, not bothering to go and eat lunch since he just didn't have the appetite. In the mean time, perhaps he could do some homework and get it over and done with. It was easier said than done when he thought about this morning. He couldn't help but feel a bit concerned over the fact he saw Yuki and those boys coming from behind the building. He had wondered about Yuki's absence, but didn't think he'd be skipping class.

"Ha-san!"

Hatori looked up to see Ayame cheerfully heading over to him. Hatori could see that Ayame seemed bothered by something, but wisely kept it to himself. He waited for Ayame to sit down.

"Oh Ha-san! You wouldn't believe this. I know that I'm so irresistible," here Hatori's rolls his eyes, "but I just wasn't interested in going on another little escapade."

Hatori narrowed his eyes. "What are you talking about?"

Ayame continued carelessly. "Oh, you know that Saizo character. He and friends are planning on going to…" Ayame leaned in and mock-whispered, "the red light district."

"Anyway!" Ayame leaned back, as if he hadn't just divulged the secret and told that a group of boys would be visiting the red light district. "Where's Shigure and Yuki? Haven't seen Yuki all day."

"Shigure's having a chat with the school editor." Hatori said promptly. "Something about writing a small story or something of that kind. And as to Yuki," Hatori couldn't help but wonder if Yuki was in on the plan as well. It didn't seem like Yuki to do that but…

"I don't know where he is."

Ayame nodded mutely. They spent the rest of the time in companionable silence.

* * *

"Boys, our newest member, Suyama Yuki!"

The boys cheered, patting Yuki on the back as they clambered into the bus. Yuki found himself being pushed into a seat with the other boys before Saizo took to the wheel and started the bus. The boy's cheered again, and soon they were off on the road. Yuki took this time to turn around and search for the top of his brother's head.

"Where's Ayame?"

One of the boy's on his side looked surprised at the random question, but answered.

"Ayame decided not to come."

Yuki felt dread wash over him. Ayame wasn't here. History hadn't altered this.

_I'm in trouble…_

"Are you ready everyone!" Saizo yelled, not bothering to turn around so he could keep his eyes on the road. "We're going to see the ladies!"

The boys cheered once more.

Yuki froze, too shocked to call a halt to the entire thing. He watched the school disappear from sight as he unwillingly joined the others on the very illegal adventure.

'_I should've listened to Akio,_' he mentally groaned.

* * *

**TBC**


	8. RedLight Woes

**Title:** Ripples by the Pond

**Author:** Gia

**Rating: **PG

**Pairing:** None.

**Time**: 90's. The Mabudachi Trio are in still in high school.

**Summary**: A wish Ayame made in the past sends Yuki reeling back in time. Finding himself sharing a class with the Mabudachi Trio themselves, Yuki must find a way to keep his secret hidden or risk losing himself in the past forever.

**Disclaimer**: The story here is non-profit and for purely entertainment purposes; nor is it affiliated to Takaya Natsuki, Hakusensha, or any other publishers of Fruits Basket. The characters belong to Takaya Natsuki and the plot belongs to me.

**Author's Notes:** Yes, I've gone back to re-write (re-word?) a lot of my chapters. For the new readers, the only important things (maybe basic things) to keep in my here are that Yuki is _in the past_ and will be entering the second year of high school with his brother. Now onto the story!

* * *

The ride had unfortunately passed by quickly, too quickly, for Yuki's taste. It didn't help matters when the boys cheered loudly, whooping with good cheer as if they were…

_'Excited about losing their virginity.._' a voice continued in his head whispered. Yuki groaned and watched as the other boys hurried to get down the bus. It was too late to change their minds now, Yuki knew that, but it didn't necessarily mean that he had to join in this.. this.. debauchery! Yuki frowned in obvious disapproval as he watched the boys head in the general direction of the prostitutes. They didn't seem to care when Yuki didn't join them, and Yuki was grateful for that.

_'I should've said something once I realized Ayame wasn't here.. Baka!'_

He let himself slide down the chair a bit, to get into a more comfortable position. If his memory served right, the boys did manage to leave the red light district unharmed, but they _were_ caught in the end. So, did this mean he was going to get caught as well? Letting a sigh out, he propped his elbow on the base of the window. Yuki absentmindedly stared out, but wasn't really trying to look for anything. He was content to just sit here and wallow in self-pity.

Maybe not. _'I'll just wait here till they get back. Maybe take a nap while I'm at it. Time can't be easily changed, and I'm almost positive we'll get caught._' Adjusting his position to a more comfortable one, Yuki closed his eyes and was soon asleep.

* * *

**Ripples by the Pond **

By Gia

_Chapter Eight: Red-Light Woes, An Unlikely Rescue_

* * *

A sleeping face creased with irritation at the sounds of yelling. Yuki yawned and cracked an eye open. It didn't take long for both eyes to widen considerably when he saw the boys heading to the bus. They were running and it was obvious that something was wrong. Firstly, they were apparently drunk. Secondly, they were being chased by men who looked like they planned on beating the drunken boys into the ground. And thirdly, well.. Yuki hadn't gotten to that fact yet.

He quickly stepped out and was grimly satisfied that even though the boys were drunk, they ran at the prospect of being hurt. He stepped to the side to allow the boys to run in but glared coldly at the two men that had been chasing them.

"I'm afraid I'll have to ask you two to stop chasing them. You've already ran them out, we don't need to start anything." Yuki stated coldly.

Yuki noticed Saizo stepping down from the bus in the corner of his eye, and resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "Makoto! Get back in!"

Saizo glared back at Yuki. "No! I don't need you to stand up for me, Suyama. Besides, I've been in fights. _They_ fight dirty, Suyama, and they look like they can take you blindfolded. No offense."

This time Yuki did manage to roll his eyes. He turned around to tell Saizo to back off. "None taken. Seriously, Makoto, I can handle this."

Saizo opened his mouth to argue more but instead he cried out in alarm. Yuki instinctively ducked and smiled to himself when he heard the other man curse. It was cheap, really, trying to hit your opponent when their back is turned. He looked at the man who had taken a swing at him, grinning with hard glint in his eyes, Yuki raised his hands.

The two men really had no chance. Although they had bulk and strength on their side, they were in no condition to fight an underestimated opponent. Yuki was by no means lacking in martial arts, and he usually had a strategy planned in his mind. Then again, it didn't take much brain power to be able to bring down these two men. Yuki ran forward, quicker than either man had anticipated, and managed to bring his face mere inches in front of the one who tried to hit him. The man only had a chance to blink in shock before he was sent flying.

The other man didn't like the idea of getting beat as well so he ran off. The other boys, Saizo Makoto included, could only stare at Yuki with newfound respect and shock. They hadn't expected someone as fragile looking as Yuki to be able to do that.

"Yuki—_!_"

Yuki looked at Saizo sharply, and it was clear he didn't want to talk about it. Without a word, both boys walked in and they proceeded to head back to school.

* * *

Ayame grinned coyly at Hatori's impassive face. There was no reaction. The other inhabitants of the library had all abandoned whatever they were doing and was watching two of the famed Mabudachi Trio. Hatori merely raised an eyebrow at Ayame's coy grin, his face completely emotion free. If one were to listen closely, you could here whispers and bets going on about who would win.

Ayame leaned forward, dropping his voice to a low purr, "Ne, Ha-san, are you giving up?"

"No…"

Their eyes met and something in the air seemed charged. Everyone held their breath as they felt more than saw the result of this little competition.

**Blink**.

"Mou! Ha-san! You made me blink!" Ayame cried.

"You brought this on yourself." Hatori replied calmly, turning around to eye the spectators of their little staring contest. It was not he that had initiated it, it was Ayame. Ayame's antics were always a bit off, but it provided Hatori with daily amusement.

"Well," Ayame's voice took on a seductive tone that even made nearby boys who were still half-listening blush, "I'm sure my punishment won't be too harsh, ne Ha-san."

He propped his head on his palm delicately, staring at the top of Hatori's head since he was engrossed in the book he was reading…

"Ha-san! Why are you reading?! Can you not see that the ever beautiful Ayame is trying to—_!_"

"Sohma-san!"

Multiple pairs of eyes stared up at another student who apparently had run all the way to the library. Said student blushed at the sudden onslaught of attention.

"I was told to tell you that you are needed in the council room."

Ayame blinked in puzzlement but nodded and stood. Hatori stood without a word as well and followed Ayame.

_'What could possibly be going on?_' both Sohmas' wondered.

* * *

Of all the things Hatori and Ayame had expected, this was definitely not it. Inside the council room, there were eleven adults, and six boys. The sixth person, however, was cause for more surprise.

"YUKI!?"

Yuki's head shot up at the sound of his name, and he averted his eyes as soon as he met Ayame's and Hatori's. Akio, who was sitting beside Yuki, had his lips pressed in a thin line. Hatori and Ayame glanced at each other, and Hatori quickly took a seat at the side. Stepping up to the end of the table, Ayame addressed the principal with uncharacteristic seriousness.

"What has occurred here?"

The principal looked modestly shocked at Ayame's serious tone but answered dutifully. "These boys were caught by Kentarou-san, and it was revealed that they had been in the red light district." A mother who was sitting there had her eyes closed in shame.

The principal continued, "They are going to be expelled. However, the boys have pleaded that you speak for them."

Ayame nodded. Silence reigned over the room, as he placed both hands on the table. "For a group of minors to set foot in a red-light district—this is by no means an act to be praised." Ayame's eyes were closed, this gesture somehow conveying the severity of the situation.

Yuki finally looked up at this, watching his brother speak to everyone. It was exactly as he had imagined it.

"Laws are put in place to be obeyed. Otherwise, we lose order. And with that being said, I must also express my concern over what I see as a condemnation of our natural human instincts!"

Hatori looked in on silence at Ayame. The mothers of the boys were entranced with the speech Ayame was weaving around them all, and even Yuki couldn't help but feel he needed to believe what Ayame was saying. It was just as Ayame had described it, which surprised Yuki even more, since this meant that though Ayame's stories seemed far-fetched, they were actually the truth.

"I submit that the desires which led these boys astray were fueled by perhaps the most noble of human instincts—the instinct to procreate the species!"

Akio's pursed lips twitched.

"Should we damn them for feeling these natural urges?"

"President," Naota said in an awe-struck voice.

The principal looked at Ayame with surprise. "Ayame. You're being unusually serious today."

Mrs. Katsura, who sat behind the principal, spoke with surprise evident in her voice as well. "Yes, quite a departure from your normal antics."

Ayame continued, eyes open as he regarded each adult present in the room with seriousness. His eyes met Yuki's briefly, but Yuki looked back down. "At this time, I would like to offer you a proposal!"

Ayame stood up straighter, lifting his hands as he spoke. "Let us offer a hand of rescue to these wayward youths. Let us help them to understand their sometimes confusing natural desires…" He slammed his hands down on the table to emphasize his point.

"From now on…! They may direct their desire toward me!"

Everyone froze. Yuki felt like banging his hand against the table. _'Ayame… is too much._' The room seemed to spin with sheer audacity of Ayame's statement.

Placing his hands against his chest in such a way as to make him appear modest, Ayame continued with newfound energy, "As a chosen representative of this student body, it is only fitting that this heavy burden should fall on my shoulders."

An unseen wind seemed to blow Ayame's hair. "And furthermore…. Since we will all be boys, parents and teachers will have nothing to fear!" His green eyes glinted, as he took a righteous pose. "So send me your desire! In the service of my fellow students, I am prepared to receive! "

The teachers were beside themselves with this proposal. "This is wonderful! Ayame has really gone out of his way to do such a self-less deed!"

"Indeed," Mrs. Katsura cried, already fanning herself, "Such a self-less one, this Ayame Sohma!"

"WE SHOULD START RIGHT AWAY!" The boys cried.

"YES! Ahahaha…" Ayame laughed superiorly.

Pfef. Maybe in Ayame's perverted dreams…

All the teachers stood up in outrage, the principal yelling "He's gone mad!"

"Insane!"

"Get him out of here!" A mother cried in shock.

A teacher and the principal himself both dragged Ayame out. "Don't worry," Ayame continued carelessly, as though he wasn't aware he was being dragged out, "Despite how it looks, I know what I'm doing."

Yuki watched in astonishment as Ayame was bodily dragged from the room. But-- It was only a split second…

Ayame cracked an eye open and winked at Yuki.

Yuki could only blink in surprise before the door was shut behind Ayame. Hatori sighed to himself, and stood up. His solemn effect seemed to have calmed down the outraged adults. "I think the purpose of Ayame's performance was to state that their punishment may have been too harsh. Rather than punish them, it would be better if they were each assigned a teacher present in this room and dealt with individually. This way, the school's integrity will still be upheld without any unneeded attention."

Everyone in the room blinked. That was actually the best thing they could have heard. The boys smiled at Hatori gratefully, but they only received a nod in return.

Yuki, meanwhile, knew he was not going to get out of this unscathed. As soon as the room emptied, only Hatori and Akio remained inside the room with him. Akio regarded Yuki angrily, too indignant to form words. Seeing this, Hatori cut in smoothly. "Akio-san, I think the reason Yuki was on this trip was to stop Ayame from coming along. I think there may have been a misunderstanding and Yuki had no chance in backing out."

Yuki's eyes widened, as he stared up at Hatori. However, Hatori was not facing him, but Akio instead. Akio's anger seemed to deflate at Hatori's words, perhaps by relief if nothing else. One could not really tell whether Hatori was lying, and he never seemed the type to anyway, so Akio was hard pressed to believe him. Sighing tiredly, but in a good-natured way, he told Yuki he'd wait by the car. "We've had enough excitement for the day at any rate." And with that, Akio left.

There was sudden awkward silence between the two Sohmas', not that Hatori is aware of that, and Yuki could only think of one thing to do. Standing up, he met eyes with Hatori's half-surprised ones, and thanked him.

Hatori gave a small smile, "It's what friends do.. Ne, Yuki Suyama?"

Yuki blinked in wonder at Hatori's sudden display of affection. Smiling, he replied a quiet "Hai."

Hatori nodded once more, and left the room quietly. Yuki's smile faltered for the slightest seconds. "Demo.. Is it what relatives do for each other? Would Ayame have done it, knowing who I was? Would you?"

The empty room gave no reply.

* * *

**AN**: AND OF CHAPTER! Lol.. I had hoped to end this chapter on a lighter note, but I think it needed this end. So, how do you like it? Did I pull that scene, at least semi-smoothly? Tell me what you think in a review!


	9. Unexpected Invitations

**Title:** Ripples by the Pond

**Author:** Gia

**Rating: **PG

**Pairing:** None.

**Time**: 90's. The Mabudachi Trio are in still in high school.

**Summary**: A wish Ayame made in the past sends Yuki reeling back in time. Finding himself sharing a class with the Mabudachi Trio themselves, Yuki must find a way to keep his secret hidden or risk losing himself in the past forever.

**Disclaimer**: The story here is non-profit and for purely entertainment purposes; nor is it affiliated to Takaya Natsuki, Hakusensha, or any other publishers of Fruits Basket. The characters belong to Takaya Natsuki and the plot belongs to me.

**Author's Notes:** Yes, I've gone back to re-write (re-word?) a lot of my chapters. For the new readers, the only important things (maybe basic things) to keep in my here are that Yuki is _in the past_ and will be entering the second year of high school with his brother. Now onto the story!

* * *

Fortunately for Yuki, news of the red-light incident was never made known to the other students of the school. Yuki didn't even want to think about their reactions to this, and loathed to imagine it. What surprised him most, though, was the lack of mention coming from the three Sohmas'. He expected at least some suggestive comments from Ayame, and even Shigure, since he was positive he was aware of the embarrassing event, but they never even once seemed inclined on bringing the subject up. It definitely disturbed him.

Time had passed on as usual, weeks turning into months. December had crept up on Yuki before he could blink, but the day most prominent in his mind was New Year's. Today was going to be the last day of school before their vacation started. New Year's would be several days from today. He hadn't yet approached Akio on what exactly he would be doing when he left to visit his family, and Yuki found many reasons on not doing it right away. Yuki guessed that it would be awkward for Akio when he voiced out the question and Yuki did not want Akio to feel that he was a burden. He had already planned out what he was going to say.

* * *

**Ripples by the Pond **

By Gia

_Chapter Nine: Unexpected Invitations, Temptations Abound_

* * *

_'I'll tell him that it wouldn't be a problem if I were to stay home,'_ Yuki recited to himself in his head, as he walked down the hallway of the school, _'And to have much fun while he is there to tell him about later.'_ he continued, nodding in greeting to another boy who passed him in the hall. _'Then I'll smile to alleviate him of any doubts and say that I need to do homework in my room._' he finished. Sighing tiredly, he wondered if it was too unusual for him to have planned this out. However, with the New Year's approaching, he couldn't find anything wrong with his decision. He still felt odd to have a New Year's banquet approaching, and he not attending. Although, he actually was attending, but it's going to be his younger self.

He frowned unconsciously. Over the past weeks, he had been thinking about his situation with the past, and his younger self. He had couldn't share his theories with Akio, but in retrospect, he still felt that it was still too early for him to know. Although guilty from keeping this secret from Akio, it forced him to think about the implications of his ideas. If his sudden bouts of fainting, or other physical reactions were caused by his younger self who was experiencing it, then it obviously had to be connected to the reason he was here. Yuki's immediate assumption was that he was here to help his younger self but found himself throwing that assumption just as quickly as he had come up with it.

Doing something so direct as that would definitely alter history, including the fact that he felt wrong about this decision. The next reason he could be here was something he didn't think he could deal as well with. The fact that he may just be here to be _**with**_ his brother. Wasn't it his childhood dream? Wasn't it what Ayame wished so much for now, in the present time? It was the only plausible reason Yuki could come up with, or it could be due to the fact that he wanted to believe it. Either way, it was starting to look like the _only_ reason he was here.

He was stopped from his musing from a heavy hand landing on his shoulder. Turning his head slightly, he caught sight of white hair before another hand landed on his other shoulder. He didn't have to guess to know that it was Shigure. He could already feel Hatori's presence ahead of him, and found himself inexplicably cornered by his two cousins and brother.

"Yes?" he asked.

"Yuki," Ayame started, looking at him concernedly, "you were looking so sad! Are you alright?"

Yuki blinked at his sudden, uncharacteristic behavior. He could feel Shigure's grip on his shoulder tighten imperceptibly, and he found himself facing Shigure's face. "Yes, Yuki, is there anything we can do… to cheer you up?" His eyebrows rose to show just how _eager_ he was to cheer him up, and his grin widened.

Yuki found himself frowning in annoyance and opened his mouth to tell him to quit that when Hatori coughed loudly to get their attention.

"We're going to be late to class." he stated simply.

The other two boys brightened up immediately, having forgotten their previous attempt at riling Yuki up, and immediately dragged him with them. Yuki found himself sighing tiredly in amusement, and all thoughts about his predicament in the past fled.

* * *

Ms. Okita was known throughout the school as a very strict disciplinarian, who took Drama class very seriously. Her class, by no means, lacked fun; it just carried a sense of importance that made everyone edgy. She was forty-something year old woman, to everyone who looked at her, and a widower. She looked every bit the strict person, with her jet black hair that was always tied up in a perfect bun. Her thin glasses were perpetually resting on her nose, adding on years to her face, but still managing to complete a friendly effect. It could be said that you'd have to get to know her before you judge her.

Today's class would be covering acting in serious plays. Few boys dared to groan, but Ms. Okita seemed to be in a forgiving mood and didn't reprimand them. Instead, she launched into a lively introduction on the chapter. Acting was the only thing she seemed to be lively about, especially joking, since many boys were treated to her sarcasm.

"Simplicity is necessary in serious roles. It provides the strength and directness needed to complement the mood. Be selective in what you do. One well chosen movement can effectively suggest much more than a series of cluttered, inconsequential activity." She paused, looking around the room to see that everyone was paying attention.

"In a scene in Brecht's _Mother Courage_, a character becomes extremely cold as he waits outside in the severe weather. In the notable London production, the character stood for that scene." She stopped, eyes roving the classroom before landing on Naota Shina. The boy chosen widened his eyes comically, and he hesitantly stood and walked down to the front of the class where she directed. Yuki found himself smiling in sympathy for the boy, knowing that it wasn't too easy getting in front of everyone.

"Okay, Naota, I'd like to see you do an impression of someone being extremely cold for me." She walked off to the side, to watch him.

Naota froze immediately, and a few boys chuckled. Ms. Okita sighed loudly, and walked back to him. "Come on, Mr. Shina, surely you can act out being cold?" She raised an eyebrow.

Naota blinked, flushing in embarrassment, and nodded. Smiling in encouragement, she stood off to the side to watch him.

Naota paused for a moment, before pretending to tremble. The boys laughed. This only further encouraged Naota, and he relaxed. He made a show of blowing his hands, and beat his sides with his arms as if to show that he was trying to keep warm. Ms. Okita smiled from the side, and came over to halt his actions. She nodded to him, and Naota walked back to his desk.

"As impressive as that was, it wasn't simple. Remember, simplicity is necessary in serious roles. The actor did not do any of the cluttered cliché movements one usually associates with being cold. Instead, he seemed to make himself as small as he could by drawing himself in while still standing upright."

She mimicked the motion she was speaking about, and the boys watched, impressed, at how she appeared to be feeling a chill that none of them felt. Ms. Okita continued, smiling when she had everyone's attention, "And then he slowly, almost painfully lifted one foot up and held it closely to his other leg." She did so, and gave the natural impression that she was truly cold. She immediately relaxed from her position, standing comfortably.

"This one simple action was all that was needed to suggest to the audience the character's feeling of extreme coldness. Of course, there's more to it than just simplicity."

She paced the front of the classroom, regarding every boy's face. "When you act in serious plays, you must be aware not only of the immediate problem but of the larger implication involved. A skilled actor is able to portray the character, as well as to suggest to the audience the play's universal elements. To accomplish this, the double role of actor and character must function with great sensitivity and balance."

She stopped walking and stood still. "Which brings me to another section, it is still early in the year but I had the lucky opportunity of finding one of Sohma Shigure's more credible work from the school editor."

Shigure's head shot up in surprise, and he stared back at her.

Yuki found himself glancing at Shigure and then at Ms. Okita in curiosity, wondering what she was talking about. Hatori, who was sitting behind him, leaned over.

"Shigure had been writing a story of some sort for the school editor… while you were gone."

Yuki found himself flushing as he remembered the incident Hatori was discreetly skirting around.

"Oh." was his only reply as he turned back around.

Ms. Okita continued, winking at Shigure's shocked face. "Shigure's work has been unanimously chosen by the faculty to be the script for this year's spring play."

The other boys in the classroom immediately clapped, whistling and cheering for Shigure. Yuki found himself bizarrely touched by Shigure's visible shyness at the attention. The feeling vanished, however, when Shigure quickly reverted back to his 'usual' self and accepted the compliments with great gusto.

Ms. Okita raised her hand to quiet the boys and continued. "However, as it is too early to have any type of discussion about the play, I will be saving it for _after_ the holidays. I just thought it'd be a nice treat for you all to hear about this sooner."

As soon as she finished speaking, the bell rang, signifying the end of class. She smiled indulgently to the boys who looked extremely pleased to see that the day was almost over.

* * *

The next class, English, allowed Yuki to slip into a semblance of ease, due to the fact that it was the last class of the day. However, it also reminded him that although Akio knew that he was stuck in the past, he didn't know of his relation to the Sohmas'. Not only was he lying to Akio, he was also going to burden Akio at home for the New Years if he really was going to visit his family.

Bad things just seemed to pile up, leaving him feeling worse than he had before. He sighed, resting his head on the palm of his hand as he stared ahead listlessly. Akio's voice had a calming effect, something Yuki realized due to his constant proximity he had with him at home. Yuki found himself growing closer to this new father figure in his life, and wondered how things would be when he got back home. Well, _if_ he got back home.

But if he did, would he look Akio up? Come to Akio's home after what would seem like ten years to him? Would he even be remembered? Yuki shuddered to think the possibility of Akio acting negatively to his appearance. Akio had all the right to turn someone away that was claiming to be a boy he knew from the past. Then again, Akio already knew he was from the future.

All the questions roaming around in Yuki's head promised a colossal headache so Yuki halted his musings. New Year's wouldn't be here until several more days, giving him plenty of time to approach Akio. Yuki managed to focus his eyes on Akio, and he tried to concentrate on today's lesson. His concentration constantly wavered, in spite of this, but not due to the troubling thoughts of Akio Kentarou. He was well aware of the hushed whispering going on between the "Mabudachi Trio". To Yuki's surprise, Hatori was participating in the conversation quite heatedly. Yuki couldn't recall a time when he'd seen Hatori actually _angry_.

Of course, Ayame and Shigure proved to be immune to Hatori's angry retorts, and proceeded to say more in hushed whispers. Yuki turned away before he could be caught listening in, and wondered what they could possibly be talking about. He allowed his arms to slide down across the desk, so he could rest his chin on them. He only hoped Akio would be in an understanding mood and let him slouch over his desk like this.

His eyes turned downcast as he found his concentration waver and disappear on their English lesson for the day.

_'Why am I really here..?' _he asked himself silently…

* * *

_"Come __**on**__, Hatori! I agree with Ayame!" Shigure whispered back, keeping his voice low so as not to attract attention from Akio. "No one would have to know. Besides, I think this is exactly what Yuki needs to cheer up!"_

_"Absolutely not, Shigure." Hatori snapped, glancing up at Akio's back. "If Akito were to find out that we brought a non-Sohma to the banquet--"_

_"But he __**won't**__," Ayame cut in, his eyes gleaming, "he hardly pays any attention to the other Sohmas. He's always busy with… with my brother." He gave an awkward laugh under his breath. "You know that, Ha-san." Ayame continued after a brief pause, glancing at the other two uneasily._

_Shigure was actually silent. Hatori, too, was staring at Ayame. The three were well aware of Akito's strange fixation on Ayame's younger brother, but neither Shigure nor Hatori have heard Ayame actually voice it aloud. Shigure had come to realize that Ayame felt uncomfortable mentioning his brother, so it was odd that Ayame would bring it up so suddenly._

_Hatori shook his head, choosing instead to fix his angry glare onto Shigure. Now wasn't the time to bring up the conversation they carried before. "__**Regardless**__, other Sohmas will be aware of him. Someone __**will**__ notice, and I will not jeopardize our family or Yuki's memory."_

_Shigure sighed, his face growing serious. He was silent for a few moments, regarding Akio's back as an object to focus on. Ayame had no inclination of interrupting Shigure's thoughts so he remained silent as well. Shigure's eyes trailed away from Akio and landed on Yuki's wounded posture. Yuki's eyes were looking down and Shigure could almost feel the palpable emotions radiating off the boy._

_"I think Yuki is sad.." Shigure stated simply, watching as Yuki's eyes close, a strained expression appearing on his face._

_Hatori did a small double take, wondering at how easily Shigure avoided replying to Hatori's logic._

_Ayame turned to look at Yuki, wondering at the boy's recent depressed nature. He found himself feeling more concerned for Yuki Suyama's feeling as the days passed. He couldn't understand his sudden urge to check up on Yuki, trying to make sure that Yuki was smiling, or just in some variation of protectiveness. Ayame just couldn't place why he felt this way towards the boy._

_"Yuki needs to smile… more." Ayame replied softly. His observation immediately attracted Hatori's attention. The two were dead set on sneaking this Yuki Suyama into the New Year's banquet, but how could he convince them not to? It was futile, really, because once the two were determined on a something, they usually kept pushing till they got their way._

_'I can't believe I'm saying this...' Yuki thought to himself._

_He looked up at them. "Fine."_

_Shigure's head snapped in his direction, his eyes sliding from Yuki. He paused._

_"You won't regret this Hatori." he spoke, trying to convey his assurance through those words._

_"I hope not." Hatori muttered, shaking his head softly in resignation._

_"We should tell Yuki to wait for us after class." Ayame said, breaking up the tense atmosphere. Ayame looked around, checking to see if Akio was still engrossed in explaining something he had written on the board. Leaning over his desk slightly, Ayame called…_

* * *

"Psst! Yuki!"

Yuki straightened up in alarm before relaxing when he realized it was just Ayame who had called him. He looked over at Akio surreptitiously before turning his head towards Ayame. "Yes?" he called softly.

"Meet us after class!" Ayame whispered as loud as he could. He was working extra hard not to allow his naturally boisterous voice to escalate to a yell.

Yuki blinked but nodded hesitantly.

Feeling suddenly uncomfortable, Yuki turned forward in his seat, his body stiff. _'What could they possibly want to meet me?'_ Yuki wondered apprehensively.

Yuki figured that it might have something to deal with their heated conversation a few moments ago, but how could it concern him? _'And why did Hatori seem __**angry**__?'_ Yuki found himself dreading the end of class because he couldn't figure out why they would want to speak to him, but was disappointed to see Akio already ending his discussion.

"Well, since New Year's is arriving in a few more days, and today _is_ your last day.." Akio trailed off in mock-thought, tapping his chin with his finger for effect, "I think I'll hold off from the essay."

There were immediate cheers from all the boys but they silenced when Akio raised his hands to quiet them. "_But_ I will be assigning it to you when you get back."

A few groaned, but it wasn't that passionate since the prospect of having an essay-free vacation was enough to quell any grumblings. Akio grinned and bid them all a safe and fun break. Smiling with amusement as the boys voiced there happiness with loud whoops and yelling in the hall, Akio stepped around to sit back in his desk. He wasn't surprised to see Yuki and the three Sohmas lagging behind in class. The three were always engaged in waiting for Yuki or keeping the reserved boy busy.

It seemed to Akio that the three Sohmas walked with a purpose with Yuki, so he could only smile at Yuki and tell him that he'd be waiting in the parking lot after he spoke to a few teachers.

Yuki merely inclined his head in acknowledgement before he was escorted out the room and into the halls.

Akio smiled as the four disappeared around the corner. He had wanted to speak to Yuki about New Year's. Normally, he visited his family during this holiday but he had postponed inviting Yuki over because the boy may be invited to some party with others his age. Akio had no inclination on risking Yuki a social life. He grinned at the last thought.

Although, from the way the three Sohmas were moving Yuki out the classroom, Akio could tell they had something important to discuss with Yuki. Akio was almost positive it was an invitation of sorts. _'Enjoy yourself Yuki!'_ Akio silently cheered in his head.

* * *

His relations led him out into the school's courtyard where a few people were still milling around. They didn't choose any seats, preparing instead to sit on the ground to speak. Yuki frowned at how the three were acting, noticing there reserved moments, and questioned what they could possibly say.

Shigure looked at his cousins on either side of him and gave a half-smile when he discovered that he'd be the one speaking first. "Yuki, do you have any plans for New Year's break?"

Yuki frowned in suspicion but shook his head in a negative answer.

"You see, Yuki, we've noticed how down you've seemed lately. And we've been thinking that you could join us in a New Year's Party at the Sohma estate."

Any noises seemed to be sucked out of the room at Shigure's last statement. Yuki was aware of Shigure speaking, but all he could hear was a dull roaring in his ears. He was too shocked to reply immediately.

_'What is Shigure thinking?'_ Yuki thought dazedly, leaning backing in an attempt to take everything in. _'He can't possibly… but I may be seen… and… no wonder Hatori seemed angry… what am… I going to do?'_

"Yuki?" Ayame asked, concern etching itself onto his face. "Are you okay? Are you going to have another asthma att—!" he was cut off due to Yuki's adamant gestures that he was fine.

Hatori shared a look with Shigure and regarded Yuki's troubled face. He sighed, dispelling his thoughts on the enigma that was Yuki Suyama. "Yuki?" he called.

The boy seemed to come to himself and he looked up at the other three and smiled slightly. "Thank you for inviting me." he replied softly. "But I will have to ask Akio for permission."

"No problem!" Shigure cried, waving his hand at him in an assuring manner. "You can call…" he glanced at Hatori. "Hatori."

The dragon of the zodiac blinked in surprise before telling Yuki his number. Yuki repeated it over several times in his head before nodding. He stood up first, dusting off his pants. "I'll be going now then." he replied, tilting his head.

"Need us to come?" Ayame stalled.

Yuki smiled. "I'm alright alone."

* * *

_'All I have to do is ask Akio. Tell him first. Then ask my question.'_ Yuki chanted in his mind, gathering his nerve.

The two were already inside Akio Kentarou's home, having eaten dinner early. Yuki was surprised that Akio invited him over to the living room where they could have a cup of tea and _talk_. This was the perfect chance for him to tell Akio, but he didn't know how to begin.

Yuki shifted in his seat, holding the cup of warm tea in his hand while he absentmindedly watched the steam rise up the contents. Akio, who was sitting across from him, raised an eyebrow at Yuki's edgy behavior.

"Do you have anything on your mind, Yuki?"

Not for the first time, Yuki started in surprise. He paused, the words of saying he was fine on the tip of his tongue, but he stopped. Sighing, he looked up. "Yes, actually, Akio-san." he reached out and put down his cup of tea so he could move around freely.

"Akio-san, I know you usually visit your family during New Years."

Frowning in confusion, Akio nodded. "Yes, although how you came upon that… well, it's no secret." Akio shrugged lightly.

"I _was_ going to tell you that I'd be fine alone." Yuki admitted, maintaining eye contact with Akio. "But it seems that my… that the Sohmas have decided to invite me over to a New Years party."

"That's great!" Akio enthused. "I'm absolutely okay with it! You should go!"

Yuki's eyes widened and he averted them quickly. He felt a flash of hurt at Akio's animated words, and idly wondered if Akio was glad to get rid of him.

Realizing how his eagerness might be misunderstood, Akio was quick to explain. "No, Yuki, I'm not trying to imply that I don't want you here."

Yuki looked up in curiosity, silently prompting Akio to continue.

"I'm just happy that you're having here, even if it isn't _your_ time." Akio winked. "Anyway, you _do_ have my permission. Far be it from me to risk your social standing with the boys."

Yuki rolled his eyes in amusement, finding a weight being lifted off his shoulders. "Thank you, Akio-san." he said sincerely.

"Hm… well, Yuki, all I ask is that you lock up with the spare key. It's in the drawer of the phone table, you know where it is right?"

Yuki smiled his response.

Akio suddenly yawned. "I guess I'm more tired than I thought. I'll have to leave early in the morning, Yuki, do you mind?"

"Iie.." Yuki replied softly, smiling as Akio stretched making loud cracking noises with his back.

"Oh!" Akio rubbed his back, wincing every now and then. "I'm getting too old. Why me?" he moaned.

Yuki laughed, standing up from his seat to jokingly push Akio towards the stairs. Halfway there Akio suddenly stopped. Without turning around, he spoke. "Yuki, you know I… I trust you."

Yuki froze, his mind half wanting to retreat his hands but he kept them still. "Hai.." he answered back.

"You're like a son to me."

Yuki's hands fell limply to his side, staring at the back of Akio's head in shock. "Akio-san, I,"

"_Maa, maa_, I'm about to fall asleep!" Akio interjected, waving his arms widely.

"…um..?"

"Good night Yuki!" he called cheerfully, heading up the stairs and disappearing into his room.

Yuki gave a thoughtful pause, staring at Akio's closed door. "Good night, Akio-san."

Smiling at Akio's sudden display of affection, Yuki trudged down the stairs. With permission, he had to call Hatori and tell them that he'd be coming. It was only until he approached the phone that Yuki felt nervous.

Gripping the phone determinedly in his hand, he started dialing. The sound of ringing was heard only once before it was picked up. Yuki heard Hatori's greeting on the phone and found himself unable to speak.

"Hello?" Hatori called after waiting for a response. "Is anyone there?"

Yuki licked his dry lips and responded with a scratchy _'yes?'_

"Yuki?" there was obvious surprise in Hatori's voice. "Can you come?"

'_Always straight to the point, Hatori.'_ Yuki thought wryly.

"Yes, I can." he replied aloud.

"That's—_!_"

Yuki frowned in confusion when there sounds of cheerful yelling drifted in from the background. Yuki heard Hatori reply a distant _'hold on'_ and he waited. Unable to help himself, Yuki leaned closer into the receiver and wasn't surprise to hear Shigure and Ayame conversing on the other line.

_'Is that Yuki?_' The two chorused, loud enough for Yuki to catch. Yuki couldn't hear whatever Hatori replied with but the two were instantly quiet. Smirking slightly, he waited for Hatori to remember he was still on the line.

"Yuki? Sorry about that. We can come pick up you up at 8:30 pm. Do you have formal attire you can wear?"

Yuki blinked out how swiftly Hatori cut to the chase. Yuki wouldn't have been comfortable with small talk at the moment, but he didn't know how to feel when it was obvious that the feelings were mutual with Hatori. Yuki just couldn't figure out the boy. One minute he was affectionate, and the next he was indifferent. It irked Yuki's mind. It didn't help matters when he had no such attire. He hadn't brought anything back from his present time, save for the clothes on his back.

"No, Hatori, I don't have anything to wear." Yuki confessed.

Before Hatori could reply, there was a sound of squeal on the other end. He heard something loud crashing, and was met with Ayame's energetic voice.

"Yuki, did you say you didn't have anything to wear?"

"…yes." Yuki conceded nervously, wondering what Ayame had up his sleeve now.

"That's perfect! I have something you can wear! I can always tailor it to fit you!"

Yuki's eyes bugged out and he was glad that Ayame couldn't see his expression now. He remembered all too clearly Ayame's sense of style when it came to clothing for men. Yuki did **not** want to come to the New Years banquet looking… less than normal.

"I don't want to trouble you." Yuki insisted, hoping in vain that Ayame would desist.

"No, it's all arranged Yuki! We'll come pick you up a little earlier than 8:30 so you can dress at your home. Then we'll head back to the Sohma Estate. Sound good to you?"

"..Sure." the response was weakly replied but it didn't seem to faze Ayame.

"Great! See you tomorrow!"

**Click**.

Dial tone…

Yuki sighed and hang up the phone. There was no way of backing out now. A yawn escaped his lips and he decided to go to bed. There was time to worry about it in the morning.

* * *

The only sounds that could be heard in the quiet room were the sounds of grasshoppers and whispering breezes. Two futons lay in the center of the room, each occupied by a young boy. The striking difference between the two were the disarrayed sheets of an orange-haired boy, and the neatly tucked sheets of a white-haired boy, although he _did_ have black hair that peeked in from under the pure white.

On the other hand, the two boys shared a common thing. They were both awake.

Hatsuharu turned over so he could face Kyou. "Are you excited about the banquet?"

"Tch! No. I don't care."

Haru doesn't seem to take offense to Kyou's brush off and nods to himself. "Do you think Yuki will be there?"

Kyou didn't reply right away, shifting away from Haru so he could stare up at the ceiling. "I don't know." he said at last.

Haru hummed in contemplation, before whispering a quiet good night to Kyou. Kyou mumbled unintelligibly in reply, but Haru understood.

Smiling, Haru fell asleep.

* * *

**AN: **What do you all think? Good so far? Just to clear up a few things that I wrote.

I honestly think that Yuki's assumptions were realistic. Yuki is by no means an idiot, nor is he slow on grasping things. I'm trying to focus on his reactions and feelings on why he could be stuck in the past, not on how he came to this assumption. And that's about it really.

I'd like to mention, if you haven't read the top author's note, that I've already mapped out the next four or five chapters to the ending. Yes, ENDING. It'll be coming up soon, although whether it'll be finished before the summer's over, hasn't been decided yet. And.. Those chapters _**might**_change, so I could be wrong. Ack! I didn't have to mention this.. But I really did map them out. Let's just say that there's chances for changing!

In the mean time, I just want you to enjoy the rest of this story, and you'll definitely adore the next chapters. I'm already laughing in anticipation to your reactions to the next chapters. XD I'm definitely having fun with this story and I'll be truly sad to see it finished, BUT, all good things must come to and end, yes?

Which brings me to another thing. **SBB[dot]Org** will STILL BE OPEN. Even if these two stories will be over. Why? I just might write more stories! You never know! XD Besides, there's still other movements I have yet to engage in. XD Oh the horror, right? Hah! But that's way ahead in the future, things aren't going _that_ quickly. I think I'll keep mentioning this little ditty in the following chapters of **Ripples by the Pond**, and while I'm at it, **Something more Beautiful**. So keep waving those banners, will you? XD


	10. Suspicions at New Year's

**Title:** Ripples by the Pond

**Author:** Gia

**Rating: **PG

**Pairing:** None.

**Time**: 90's. The Mabudachi Trio are in still in high school.

**Summary**: A wish Ayame made in the past sends Yuki reeling back in time. Finding himself sharing a class with the Mabudachi Trio themselves, Yuki must find a way to keep his secret hidden or risk losing himself in the past forever.

**Disclaimer**: The story here is non-profit and for purely entertainment purposes; nor is it affiliated to Takaya Natsuki, Hakusensha, or any other publishers of Fruits Basket. The characters belong to Takaya Natsuki and the plot belongs to me.

**Author's Notes:** Yes, I've gone back to re-write (re-word?) a lot of my chapters. For the new readers, the only important things (maybe basic things) to keep in my here are that Yuki is _in the past_ and will be entering the second year of high school with his brother. Now onto the story!

* * *

Akio eased the door to Yuki's room open. The room wasn't as dark since it was only a little more than an hour before Yuki had to wake. He was lucky Yuki was such a heavy sleeper or he wouldn't be able to sneak in as easily as he did.

Tiptoeing closer to Yuki, he smiled down at the peaceful expression on the boy's face. Despite knowing the bizarre circumstances to Yuki's arrival, Akio was grateful for the company. He had meant it when he told Yuki that it felt like he was a son. It wasn't much of a stretch that he had come to care for the boy.

Yuki suddenly gave a sigh in his sleep, but otherwise remained oblivious to Akio's presence. Smiling gently, Akio brought the covers a little higher around Yuki's body. He hesitantly patted the still hand before turning away. He had come here for a reason, after all.

He began closing the door behind himself, mindful of the slip of paper taped on the other side. "Have a good time at the Sohmas, Yuki." He whispered quietly before shutting the door firmly shut.

* * *

**Ripples by the Pond **

By Gia

_Chapter Ten: Suspicions at New Year's, A Possible Discovery_

* * *

Yuki woke up to the sun shining in his eyes. He didn't recall leaving his curtains open but he may have forgotten about it. Tiredly rubbing his eyes to remove the remnants of sleep, he realized that he didn't hear Akio's usual morning sounds. No clanking of breakfast pans, no running water, **nothing**.

'_Akio must've left already.'_

Yuki was wide awake by now, glancing around his room. He felt loneliness creeping up on him, having unconsciously become familiar with Akio's constant presence in the house. He finally noticed a sheet of paper taped on the doorknob of his door. Tilting his head in curiosity, Yuki got up from his bed and walked towards his door. He smiled as he recognized Akio's handwriting, and read it:

_Yuki!_

_Left early! Breakfast's in the kitchen._

Yuki frowned slightly at the short message until he noticed a hurried scrawl at the bottom of the sheet.

_PS—Did you know you drool? Yuki! Those were my favorite pillow sheets!_

_Akio_

Yuki cracked a smile when he eyed Akio's attempt at drawing an angry face. It was simply signed Akio, but it meant a lot to Yuki that Akio was kind enough to leave a note. Shaking his head with amusement, Yuki placed the sheet on his desk and headed down. It wasn't uncommon that he would wake up so late but he still had time to heat up whatever Akio cooked in the morning.

There was a rather elaborate omelet with a propped up sign in Akio's own handwriting. Yuki smirked at seeing the '_Eat the Great Akio Kentarou's Special Omelet_!'

Akio had never made one for breakfast as Yuki didn't work up much of an appetite. Still, the gesture was much appreciated so Yuki managed to finish all of it. He had quite a number of hours to himself in Akio's home, but as soon as his cousins and brother arrived he'd be heading back… to his other home.

How odd it was for him to say that when it wasn't really his home. It belonged to the other Yuki. It made Yuki feel odd to be intruding, although what really irked Yuki was the sense of foreboding and something else…what was really the truth was that Yuki actually wanted to go. He wanted to come back to the Sohma house and see how it was without the effects of terror. Most importantly, he wanted to be in a place that was familiar to him. He was fond of Akio's home, but nothing could really replace the home you grew up in.

'_I have to be contradicting myself._' Yuki thought wryly.

It was no joke that Yuki had hated that place when he was little, and stilled loathed it to certain degree as he was now. Yet, he couldn't deny that urge for familiarity. The whole thing made him feel disoriented. Not for the first time, Yuki wished he could back to his real time where everything was as it should be. Where he didn't have to know his cousins as intimately as he knew them now. Where Ayame wasn't… Yuki shut his eyes, releasing a deep breath. The lines of brotherly love were blurring for Yuki.

'_Ayame wasn't…'_

'_Ayame wasn't supposed to be so…' _

Unbidden, a memory came to Yuki's confused mind. It was one of many disheartening memories that plagued Yuki as a child, and still served as a painful reminder to him even presently.

* * *

**F**_l_**a**_s_**h**_b_**a**_c_**k**

…Yuki, having grown accustomed to kneeling, couldn't help but shift impatiently when the other children possessed of the zodiac walked into the room. It was yet another "get-together" that Akito called. As far as Yuki knew, these were the only times other than the New Year banquet that all of them could be together. Of course, Yuki was aware that the other children played together… without him.

He visibly straightened when Akito, who was kneeling beside him, stood up to address the other children. He always began with the same words; words Yuki believed to be untrue.

"Welcome!" Akito spread his arms, smiling. "Thank you. I'm really glad that all of you came."

'_Did they even have a choice…?_' Yuki idly wondered, as his eyes scanned the others before him.

"I love everyone… very much."

Although Yuki could only see Akito's back, he could still imagine the boy's expression as he said those words. His head would be tilted, casting shadows on the other half of his face. Those dark bangs falling in front of his delicate face and his eyes… —_Yuki couldn't help but shudder_— not enough to be called narrowed, but just as piercing.

As soon as Akito finished talking, he sat back down beside Yuki and didn't speak again. It was normal, Yuki knew, for Akito to declare his love and then be silent for the rest of the time spent together. He never seemed to speak as much as he did with him, not when there were so many people in the room. Still, Yuki couldn't help but feel grateful for Akito's silence because it allowed the other children to talk amongst themselves. And even though Yuki was never included in their chatter, it was still nice to observe their smiling faces. _'I will join them one day…_' Yuki thought resolutely, his eyes tracing the smiles, the bright eyes, and then—

Yuki's eyes finally landed on Ayame.

During every one of the meetings Akito called, Ayame had never made eye contact with him; indeed, **no one** made eye contact with him. So it came as a great surprise when he met both Ayame's and Shigure's eyes from across the room. Whatever they were talking about was lost to Yuki since Shigure kept his mouth shielded by a hand and only the side of Ayame's face was visible to him.

Still… they were looking at him with such indifferent eyes.

And for once, Yuki would have it that Ayame never look at him…

**E**_n_**d** _o_**f** _F_**l**_a_**s**_h_**b**_a_**c**_k_

* * *

Yuki sighed, picking up his empty plate and going over to the sink. Bringing up such a memory wasn't doing him any favors. He was already beginning to rethink his decision on coming to the New Year's Banquet. Knowing the Sohma luck, something was bound to go wrong. _'Any scenario I come up with always ends up with me losing my memory… if that were to happen, there's no way I'd be able to return if I didn't remember leaving in the first place!'_

Yuki shuddered at the thought. _'There's too much at stake! I should probably call Hatori to let him know that I've changed my mind.'_

Yuki quickly dried his hands and made a beeline towards the phone. It wasn't too late for him to make the call. With trembling hands, Yuki picked up the phone and began to dial.

* * *

Preparations in the Sohma house were quite busy. As hectic as it appeared to any bystander, it really was quite the obvious. Everyone each had their own tasks that they were more than adept at doing. Decorations were hastily, yet meticulously, set up. The guesthouses were immediately cleaned, dusted, with new sheets on all the provided beds.

There was an abnormal amount of people walking around the Sohma Estate, giving the impression of the place being a town with bustling people. The only people not seen around were the zodiac members. As custom to every New Year's banquet, the zodiac members waited in their respective homes for the night's festivities. The only one who was to step out was the zodiac member's dancer. Ayame.

As part of tradition, Ayame would be dressed in the required robes while he carried the other eleven letters to the other zodiac members. They would all follow in the story's order before sitting inside the main hall, the hall set up only for the zodiac members, to feast before Ayame's dance would begin.

Ayame found the elaborate scheme a bit tiring but found that it didn't bother him this time. The impending arrival of Yuki Suyama to the night's festivities made Ayame feel oddly anxious. Surprisingly, it wasn't the fact that they'd be breaking the family's rules but that it was Yuki Suyama who was attending. Ayame, Hatori, and Shigure had all agreed that there was something about the boy that drew their attention. They just didn't know what it was yet.

Ayame himself agreed wholeheartedly with their uneasiness around the boy but he didn't bring to their attention another feeling that was nagging him. Albeit, the familiarity the three of them felt towards Yuki was strong, but Ayame was fairly sure that the familiarity he felt was even stronger.

'_What is it… this feeling?_' Ayame sighed.

He was in his room, his ceremonial robes laid out on his bed. Beside them rested the robes Ayame made for Yuki. He reached over to run his fingers over the fabric he used. Ayame found it easy to do the measurements for Yuki's clothes, so much so that Ayame would say that he'd done the task numerous times. He tilted his head, staring at both his own robes and Yuki's robes lying side by side.

That feeling was coming again…

Ayame shook his head and stood up. It was already three in the afternoon and Ayame wanted to squeeze in some practice time for his dance. Although he had the entire routine engraved in his mind, he wanted to practice the dance while actually wearing the robes he was supposed to wear. _'After, I'll get the others and we can sneak over to get Yuki…' _With that thought in mind, Ayame quickly dressed in the flowing robes.

He threw one more look at Yuki's robes and left the room.

* * *

Hatsuharu was sitting in his room, looking out his window to watch the servants and other Sohma members running around to prepare for the New Year's Banquet. His eyes flitted back and forth as each person ran across his line of sight until Haru continued his actions unconsciously.

The zodiac members who attend the New Year's Banquet weren't necessarily fond of the event, though it did give them a chance to meet their cousins who carried the same fate. Normally, it would be a chance to relax and talk with your relatives but with Akito as head…

Haru frowned and lay down on his bed. He looked forward to it because he would get a chance to see Yuki and maybe get to talk to the boy. Although he could count on one hand the times he was able to speak with Yuki, it gave him the opportunity to relate many things of which Yuki wasn't aware of. Haru was only surprised the first time when Yuki had first asked him about the other children possessed by the animals of the zodiac. Since then, Haru had taken great care to remember and observe everything that happened around him so he could project the same emotions to Yuki.

But ever since that brief encounter with Yuki Suyama, Haru knew exactly what to tell Yuki. Aside from their shared names, Haru was positive that he had seen an older version of Yuki. _'I know it's not really Yuki… it couldn't be…'_ Haru liked to think that that was how Yuki would look like when he grew older and he wanted to see Yuki's reaction to such a thing. _'Maybe one day, they will get to meet.'_ Even though such a thing wasn't impossible, Haru had a peculiar feeling that they may **never** meet.

The very thought didn't make Haru as sad as he expected to be, but it still didn't quench the desire to see the two Yuki's together. Hatsuharu sighed as he realized that his thoughts would continue in a circle if he let it. Not knowing what compelled him to, Haru sat back up to peek through the window.

It was just as well, because he caught sight of Ayame conversing heatedly with Hatori and Shigure. _'Maybe 'heated' isn't the right word,'_ Haru thought to himself as he watched Ayame gesticulate, '_he seems really worried about something._'

Haru's eyes moved toward Hatori. The semi-stoic boy had his arms crossed as he replied to whatever Ayame was saying. Shigure, who was standing beside Hatori, had a frown on his face as he kept shaking his head.

Quite abruptly, Ayame turned on his heel and began walking towards the Main Gate. It didn't take a genius to figure out that he was leaving but such actions would certainly have bad results. These thoughts must have ran through both Hatori's and Shigure's mind because the two wasted no time in going after Ayame.

As the only witness to the scene, Haru watched the three disappear through the gates.

* * *

Yuki couldn't help but toss and turn in his bed. Since he had gotten off the phone with Hatori, he couldn't help but feel guilty even through his nap. Although he hadn't cared before, Yuki realized that he may have disappointed them. _'Which is insane because it means nothing to me. That feast has done nothing but serve as a constant, painful reminder of my childhood. I don't know what made me accept in the first place.'_

After trying to rationalize with himself, it was clear that the logic wasn't helping. _'I shouldn't dwell on it now. It's over. When I see them again, I'll just say… I'll just say that I…'_

Yuki stopped. He contented himself with lying on his back on the bed, one hand thrown across his eyes as if to shield him from everything around him.

'_When I see them, I'll—'_

And suddenly, the doorbell rang. Yuki shot up from his bed and nearly fell off the side in his haste. For a split second, Yuki believed it to be the very people he was thinking about. _'It couldn't be, they're at the feast…'_

"_YUKI! YUKI, OPEN THE DOOR! I KNOW YOU'RE THERE!"_

Yuki knew that voice anywhere. **Ayame**. And from the sound of his voice, he wasn't happy. Yuki couldn't remember the first time he had heard an angry Ayame. Or even an annoyed Ayame. Feeling a bit weary, he headed down the stairs to the front door. The banging and alternate yelling was much louder now that he was practically standing in front of it. Then again, there _**was**_ only a door separating them.

"_YUKI! YUKI! I'LL BREAK DOWN THE DOOR—"_

"_Aya-san!"_

Even Shigure was surprised at Ayame's behavior, Yuki could tell. The entire experience was both unsettling and draining. _'Why did they come? Why did __**he**__ come?'_

Knowing he might regret it, but still willing to risk it, Yuki reached for the doorknob and slowly pulled the door open. The three of them stood there, Hatori and Shigure impeccably dressed, and Ayame already wearing his ceremonial robes. Yuki was certain now that if they hadn't attracted attention with all the yelling, then they certainly would later if their clothes were anything to go by.

Yuki looked warily outside, before motioning them in and closing the door. As soon as he locked it, he swung around and was prepared to ask them why they were there before Ayame interrupted him.

"What happened Yuki?" Ayame bluntly questioned.

Not for the first time, the other three couldn't help but blink at Ayame's new behavior. _'What brought this on?'_ was the primary thought on all of their minds.

"Er… what do you mean?" Yuki could play dumb.

"You know exactly what I mean." Ayame stalked forward till he was standing right in front of Yuki. "Why did you change your mind?"

But no one would believe Yuki playing dumb in the first place.

"I just…" Yuki kept his head up to return Ayame's unblinking gaze, but after a few seconds, turned away. "I-I didn't feel good."

Yuki inwardly winced. The excuse was flimsy at best. But then Ayame reached out to lay his hand along Yuki's forehead. Yuki could only blink in astonishment, and by then, Ayame had already drawn his hand back. "You don't feel sick."

Yuki shook his head when he felt a blush coming to his cheeks. He was used to Ayame's touchy-feely gestures in the future, but right then, right at **that** moment, it felt different… _more brotherly? More sincere?_

"I just don't—!" Yuki cut himself off. He sighed heavily, but still wouldn't raise his eyes to meet the others, especially Ayame's. "Look, why don't you just go? I'm sure they're waiting for your performance."

He stepped back away from Ayame and headed for the door. He would hold it open to them, and he'd do it with a smile.

Ayame silently watched him open the door and motion for them to leave—and sighed.

"_Sumimasen_, Yuki." _Exuse me_… Ayame began. "I don't know why I acted like that."

Hatori and Shigure were both content to stand aside to watch the situation unfold before them. Neither had realized that Ayame could act as differently as this, and all because of one person. And now, Ayame was acting so… there wasn't even a word for it! Hatori thought incredulously, inwardly shaking his head. If this new behavior was surprising, Hatori also couldn't help a nagging feeling that something very, _very_ important had just happened that he didn't notice… something Yuki just said… _something_… Hatori frowned.

He glanced through the corner of his eye to gauge Shigure's reaction and was surprised to see a smile forming on his lips. Frowning in confusion, he turned back to Ayame to see his face. _'Are they… planning something?'_

Yuki only shook his head at Ayame's words. "It's fine. Please, just—_**hey**_! What are—_**Shigure!**_"

And Yuki suddenly found himself thrown over Shigure's shoulder. He hadn't realized the boy was beside Ayame, but he couldn't even begin to fathom how he had managed to catch him off guard.

"_Eh?_ Yuki, you're so light!" Shigure cheerfully called, tightening his hold around him.

"_Arigatou, Gure-san_…" Ayame murmured, his voice pitched low to a seductive tone.

It seems Ayame was back to normal.

"_WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?" _Yuki screamed, no longer caring if the neighbors would hear. "_PUT ME DOWN! HATORI! DO SOMETHING!"_ Yuki pleaded to the only one not partaking in his apparent kidnapping. Hatori still had a surprised expression in his eyes but it was quickly disappearing to be replaced with uncharacteristic mischievousness.

"_Maa, maa_, Yuki." Ayame replied consolingly. He walked around so he could pat Yuki on the head. "I forgot to bring you're robes when I came over so we're going to have to bring you in early."

"_WHAT! HAVEN'T YOU HEARD ANYTHING I SAID BEFORE! I'M NOT COMING! YOU CAN'T MAKE ME!"_ At any other time, Yuki would probably look back on this and realize that he sounded like a three-year-old, but of course, now wasn't the time…

"_Saa_, let's go!"

And the unlikely bunch made their way back.

* * *

Yuki couldn't understand it. He had taken _**martial arts**_ training since he was _**ten!**_ And he for some unexplainable reason, he couldn't get out of Shigure's hold? It didn't make any sense at all!

"Yuki, you're awfully quiet." Shigure called, not sounding the least bit remorseful for kidnapping him. _'The nerve_…'

"_Ne, Yuki… _are you checking out my butt?"

Only Shigure's laughter, Ayame's cries of infidelity, and Yuki's sputtered indignation were able to mask Hatori's own quiet laughter as they continued on their way back to the Sohma House.

* * *

Docile eyes stared back into annoyed ones.

…

….

…..

"_Oi!_ What are you doing here!" Kyou yelled, fighting back the urge to hit Haru.

"Nothing really." Haru placidly replied. "The feast will begin in a few hours so I was bored."

Kyou frowned at the mention of the feast, the feast _**he**_ wasn't attending. "Then go do something by yourself and don't bother me!"

"But Kyou—"

"No! Quit bothering me and leave already!"

"I saw Ayame, Hatori, and Shigure leave." Haru spoke suddenly.

"Leave alrea—what?" Kyou blinked. Did he hear correctly? "They left?" he repeated faintly, staring hard at Haru to make sure he wasn't lying.

Haru nodded seriously. "I saw them."

Kyou valiantly fought back the curiosity blooming within him, but an excited grin was already spreading over his face. "…you want to see what they're doing, don't you?"

Haru's pleasant smile was replaced with a mischievous smirk. Kyou recognized the faint impressions of a Black Haru leaking out. On some occasions, Kyou had to admit that Black Haru could always be counted on having a more daring approach to things. It was refreshing, Kyou secretly felt, especially since he wanted to get his mind off the impending feast.

"Let's go see if they've returned."

* * *

Yuki resisted the urge to hit them once they finally put him back down. As soon as the high walls loomed up above them, the three of them agreed that they couldn't possibly continue carrying Yuki as they entered. _'Obviously!'_ Yuki thought to himself, still annoyed at the recent events. He didn't realize how his earlier misgivings about coming had been forgotten.

Hatori stepped forward first to open the gates himself. He made sure there was no one around before motioning for them to follow him. Sneaking about made Yuki feel a little silly but it was obvious from the start that Ayame and Shigure were enjoying this immensely. _'Ayame's acting more like Ayame now_…' Yuki didn't speak his thoughts aloud, though, content to just follow closely behind the three as they made their way Ayame's house.

"Yuki."

Yuki looked up at the mention of his name to see a rather serious looking Shigure looking back at him.

"Keep close to us, we don't want you to get lost." _'Among other things…_' Shigure continued in his head.

Yuki sighed warily, glancing around himself as he sped up to keep close. It wasn't like he could tell them he _**knew**_ the way there, so they didn't have to worry about him being lost. Besides that, being back at the Sohma House wasn't exactly bringing forth joyful feelings—now the thought of being caught was on his mind. There were just so many things that could go wrong that, thinking back on it now, he should've fought harder when he was carried here. Surely three disappointed cousins—well, a brother and two cousins—weren't worth enough to possibly lose his memories over. Yuki was positive that at the very least, his memories would be erased upon being found out. Anything else going along with it would probably pale in comparison.

Any further introspection on Yuki's part was cut off by Hatori's swift curse and the hasty pushing of both Shigure and Ayame. Before Yuki could even begin to ask what was wrong, he was shoved roughly into an empty room. As soon as the door was shut, Yuki heard the reason for his current hiding place. No, not _a _reason, but _two_ reasons.

Hatsuharu and Kyou Sohma.

'_This is __**not**__ good…_' Yuki slowly backed away from the rice-paper door. _'Did they see me? Was I seen?'_ He frantically looked around the room. It was a standard guest room, though slightly less furnished compared to the rooms he stayed in as a child. From what he could tell, there was nothing he could hide behind… that is if the two were heading to this particular room.

Yuki steadied his rapid breathing and listened to the voices on the other side…

* * *

"You're back." Haru stated blandly, looking up at the three.

Shigure smiled nervously. "Hm? Back from Hatori's house you mean?"

"He saw you leave!" Kyou butt in, cutting Haru off before the boy could continue his passive conversation. "Out the main gate, and I could've sworn I saw someone else—"

"It must have been me," Ayame interjected swiftly, a wide smile on his face, "my aura does tend to project itself everywhere, people have sworn to seeing two of me." Ayame laughed behind his hand. "My greatness knows no bounds, it seems."

Kyou frowned, unsure how to handle the situation.

"Now Kyou, Haru, why don't you go back to your rooms?" Hatori deliberately stepped forward. "The three of us were just about to do that before you showed up. You know it isn't allowed to be out right now."

Kyou looked ready to protest before Haru nodded and pulled Kyou to follow him. The protests from Kyou's form grew distant as Haru successfully managed to drag him away from the nervous trio. After waiting a moment more, Ayame quickly slid open the door to the room Yuki was hiding in. "Sorry about that Yuki!" The earlier apprehension Ayame felt disappeared as soon as the threat was gone, and now, he was all smiles in front of Yuki. In response, Yuki only shook his head, relieved more than anything else that the two boys hadn't decided on coming in. If they _had_, well, Yuki didn't even want to consider it.

"Well at least now we can go to Ayame' house." Shigure said cheerfully, though if Yuki had noticed, Shigure was looking at Hatori and seemed to be communicating something with his eyes. Ayame nodded vigorously at Shigure's words and immediately ushered Yuki to follow him. Perhaps it was the previous close-call incident because by the time they were inside Ayame's own room, it had felt like an eternity.

As soon as he stepped in, Yuki's eyes immediately sought out any kind of clothing—more specifically, **bright **and** outrageous** clothing. It didn't take long before his eyes alighted on the robes he was supposed to wear and Yuki had to do a double-take as he took in the sight. It wasn't what he was expecting at all.

Ayame grinned, feeling a brief moment of trepidation before gently pushing Yuki towards the bed where the robes were laid out. "Too stunned to speak, Yuki?" Ayame asked.

Yuki shook his head silently, finally walking forward to run his hands over the material. It was an original set of men's black formal haori and kimono, but made of exquisite habutae silk, along with five crest kamon. Upon closer inspection, Yuki noticed that in the haori lining, there was a woven motif, like shrine scenery. When Yuki thought back to what few creations he _did_ see of Ayame's, he hadn't seen anything as regal as this set of robes. _'He should make robes like these more often_' was a thought he found himself having before he noticed the insistent tapping his shoulder.

Frowning slightly Yuki turned around. "Yes? Do you hear someone coming?"

Ayame blinked at the question, wondering for a moment what Yuki was talking about before realizing it a second later. "Oh, _iie_, that wasn't it. You should put it on now! The Banquet will be starting soon and you have to be dressed for the occasion!"

Yuki's eyes widened. He understood the first part but the _**second**_… there's was no conceivable way that he would be able to sit within the main room, where the **real** feast was, where _**only**_ the zodiac members would sit. Unaware of Yuki's speechlessness, Ayame continued. "You won't be in the room per se…" Ayame trailed off, glancing at Shigure for assistance.

"Hatori knows of a place adjacent to the main room. It's been in disuse for a few years now so no one's likely to go in. We've aired it out so you wouldn't be sneezing or anything. We… er.. our family doesn't usually have…"

Yuki found it strange to see Ayame at a loss of words. _'I can't tell him that I know Akito wouldn't even think about the bringing a stranger to the feast…'_

"Sounds good to me." Yuki cut in, as politely as he could. He looked around at the three, feeling strangely grateful that they had gone this far for him. "I…this means a lot to me. I'll be fine."

Hatori made to move forward but paused, the lightest red tinge on his cheeks. "We won't be too long, we'll come back as soon as we can so we can really enjoy the New Years."

Yuki smiled widely. "Thanks, Hatori."

Both Ayame and Shigure's eyes widened. Their heads turned quickly from Hatori to Yuki, and back. "Could this be?" Shigure gasped out, hand going to his chest.

"Is Hatori… _flirting_ with Yuki?" Ayame asked, as if to himself.

"Seducing more like." Shigure corrected, shaking his head.

"In front of us. _Cheating_ in front of us!" Ayame cried out, starting to swoon.

Yuki crossed his arms, annoyed with the entire situation. "He was not!" He half-yelled.

Ayame paused mid-swoon to regard Yuki's face…and red cheeks. A foreign feeling crept up on him. "Yuki…"

Perhaps it was Ayame's tone because Yuki refrained from snapping at him, instead, he turned a questioning look in his direction.

Shaking his head to dislodge the sudden protective feelings, Ayame shook his head with a small smile. "It's nothing, Yuki, I just meant to say that you should dress now."

Yuki blinked at the crude change of subject but soon forgot that as soon as he was manhandled towards another door. "Change in there!" Shigure called cheerfully, throwing the robes towards Yuki and shoving him firmly into the room and sliding the door shut.

Yuki could only blink in the darkened room, hands loosely clutching his robes.

* * *

"They were hiding something!" Kyou yelled insistently, small hands clenching at his sides. They had returned to Kazuma's home after the run-in with their older cousins and both were disappointed that they're little adventure had come to nothing. Haru agreed with Kyou but he didn't know what to do about it.

"Maybe we can find out about it later." Haru pointed out.

Kyou's expression immediately soured. "If you're going to say after the stupid feast then you're just as stupid. It'll be too late by then, Haru."

Haru shrugged in reply, not wanting to remind Kyou of his not being allowed to attend the feast.

Kyou rolled his eyes at Haru's silent response and sat down with a huff. "Maybe…we can go look around…" Kyou didn't want to admit that he might be asleep by then.

Haru just smiled his response.

* * *

Yuki self-consciously smoothed down the robes over his body. It was unnecessary as the robes were especially designed for his person, but how Ayame managed that, was anyone's guess. Yuki slowly slid the door open to the room's waiting occupants. Feeling awkward at the immediate attention on him, Yuki averted his eyes to the floor, hands hanging limply at his side.

"_Ah_…Yuki you look…" Shigure shook his head. "You look like a real Sohma, now." He ended with a smile.

Yuki had the briefest double-take, eyes widening for the briefest moments before he returned the smile directed at him. His attention was soon turned towards Ayame who was currently walking around him to smooth down a crease there or to see how the cut fit Yuki's form. "I was surprised how quickly I had drawn out the measurements for you, but I have to say, it is one of the best I've ever done." The egotistic laughter that followed was hardly a surprise to Yuki.

"Thanks Ayame." Yuki said with no less of exasperation.

Ayame smiled widely in reply. Shigure glanced between the two again, struck with familiarity; he knew Hatori shared the same feeling and the two, once again, nodded to each other to talk about it again later.

"Unfortunately," Shigure called, shaking his head woefully, "I'll have to take Yuki away now so Hatori can keep him in that room."

Ayame nodded, a bit saddened and concerned that something may go wrong on their way their. "See you later, Yuki!" Ayame called, winking at them as the other two led Yuki out of Ayame's room.

Once the doors had shut, Ayame found himself praying that the night's festivities would go well.

* * *

"Remember, Yuki, don't come out. We'll come back with food but we've already put out a few snacks while you wait here." Shigure lectured to Yuki, as if he were the parent and Yuki the child.

Yuki nodded and gave a small wave as the two left him to the empty room. _'So,'_ Yuki thought, '_I'm back in the Sohma house. I'm as close to the main banquet room as I can get… I might even see Ayame's dance.'_ Yuki could admit his curiosity at the event, even though it wouldn't be his first time. Somehow, seeing the dance in the past made it more special. Yuki walked further into the room and took a seat at a low table laden with several plates of food. He wasn't overly hungry but maybe a few bites would ease his anxiety.

He'd be spending his New Year's with his family, and somehow… it felt like anything could happen.

* * *

Hatori was silent as he walked Shigure back to his home. As soon as they had left Yuki, the two of them were allowed a moment's relief. The significance of what they had done wasn't lost on either of them but aside from the fact that it was too late for them to back out now, they weren't willing on just leaving Yuki alone on New Years. Hatori realized that it was something friends would do for each other, but still, the feelings behind their actions seemed deeper than friendship… but that didn't make much sense to Hatori because they hadn't known Yuki Suyama for very long—not even a year!

Hatori remembered all his past conversations with Shigure about Yuki, and each time, they had both agreed that there was something Yuki was hiding. While his circumstances at arriving to their school were odd enough, it was just the small moments of interaction with him that they were always hit with blazing feeling of familiarity.

'_And now… we've done this. We've brought him to the Sohma Estate, and now more than anything, the feeling's stronger.'_ Hatori sighed heavily.

Shigure turned at the sound and looked at Hatori knowingly. "Thinking about Yuki?" For once, the question wasn't laced with Shigure's humor. Hatori merely nodded in reply.

Shigure suddenly stopped walking. The abruptness nearly caused Hatori to stumble but he caught himself in time. "What's wrong?"

"I've been meaning to ask, earlier, at Yuki's—_ah_, Akio-san's house. Do you remember something Yuki said? Something that stuck out?"

Hatori blinked in surprise. "I had a feeling…" Hatori shook his head. "I couldn't explain it."

Shigure paused, glancing around to make sure no one was around before motion for Hatori to continue walking. "I want to tell you what I think, but I have to be sure you heard it too. I could have imagined it…" Shigure trailed off. "Think, Hatori, what did Yuki say to us? To Ayame?"

"I don't…"

'_I-I didn't feel good'. Yes, that's what Yuki said. And after that…_

Shigure watched Hatori's face out of the corner of his eye as the boy replayed what had only occurred several hours before. He could almost pinpoint the exact moment Hatori had realized it.

'_Look, why don't you just go? I'm sure they're waiting'—_

Hatori's eyes widened.

"For your performance." Hatori whispered to himself.

Shigure nodded in satisfaction. "Exactly, Yuki said that, didn't he? I thought it was out of place, I don't remember telling him anything about what we did for New Years."

Hatori looked at Shigure sharply. "What does this mean?"

Shigure shrugged in reply. "I don't know. We can only watch Yuki and see if he lets something else slip."

Hatori didn't like the sound of that but it was the only thing they could do. At any case, they had already arrived at Shigure's door. "We'll talk about it later. As for Ayame…"

Shigure shook his head. "I don't think we should tell him just yet."

Hatori couldn't stop the acute surprise he felt at Shigure's words. Shigure smiled ruefully. "I can't help but feel that Ayame's getting along with Yuki more and more."

"I suppose," Hatori conceded, "but if something else happens, we tell him. Agreed?"

Shigure stared straight into Hatori's eyes. "Agreed."

* * *

Kisa giggled, turning her head back to see Momiji literally jumping up and down in excitement. It was the same, every year, this trek to the Main Banquet, past the slightly smaller room (though not by much) where the other Sohmas held their feast. She paid no mind to the fact that Momiji bumped into her because his excitement was rubbing off on her.

"Momiji, keep still."

"_Hai_, Hatori-san."

Kisa turned, catching Momiji's pout, and giggled again. Just as she turned around, she bumped into Hatsuharu. Blinking up at the taller boy, Kisa mumbled an apology. Hatsuharu merely smiled, patting her on the head, before making a 'shushing' gesture with his finger as he inclined his head towards the doors. Kisa tilted her head to the side, looking around Haru's back to see Yuki climbing up the steps and knocking on the door.

Yuki stepped back almost immediately as the doors opened, but as soon as that was done, he walked in. Dutifully, the rest of the juunishi entered.

They walked down the hall in silence, waiting for a few moments as another set of doors opened to welcome them into the larger hall where the feast would be held. Akito stood at the end of the table, already seated, but smiling at them nonetheless. Wordlessly, they took their places at the table and waited for Akito's signal. The sound of Akito clapping brought several maids forward, holding trays laden with steaming food.

It was surely a mouth-watering sight if it weren't for the nervous glances the younger children would send toward Akito. Akito himself seemed to be paying no mind to the attention as his own attention was focused on the boy sitting to his right. "Doesn't the food look delicious, Yuki?"

The boy looked up so quickly it seemed his neck would snap. He only met Akito's eyes for a second before bringing them back down to the table. "Yes." He replied obediently.

There. As soon as Yuki had spoken, it seemed there was an unspoken agreement that everyone could now talk to each other. Food was served all around and the sounds of chattering drifted around everyone.

Ayame, thankful that he was sitting further away from Akito, was able to talk to Hatori without feeling uncomfortable in Akito's presence. There was some shifting to Ayame's right before Shigure materialized next to him. "Missed me?" Shigure asked playfully, nudging him as he posed the question.

"Of course, 'Gure-san."

Across from them, Hatori rolled his eyes.

* * *

Yuki found that he didn't mind just lying down on the floor of the room, the sounds of faint laughter and the clinking of dishes drifting through the thin wall to wrap around him in the silence. He wasn't lonely, per se, but he was definitely bored. While it was thoughtful that the three had left some snacks for him, he couldn't help but wish they had brought something that could've amused him for awhile. A book was certainly something they could have brought.

Sighing quietly, Yuki sat back up and slowly walked towards the wall separating him from the feast on the other side. He couldn't make out any conversation but that was probably because no one was speaking really loud. Yuki hesitantly put a hand to the wall as he placed his ear against it. Still, there was nothing coherent that Yuki could make out.

**C**_r_**e**_a_**k**…

The wall itself gave the slightest squeak in protest from the bit of pressure applied by Yuki's hand. Hearing the sound, Yuki instantly stilled, fearing that it would catch someone's attention.

Yuki waited for ten seconds to hear any sounds of dropped silverware or rapid footsteps or _anything_—but from the sounds of it, no one had even noticed. Yuki didn't even dare to breathe a sigh of relief.

* * *

**C**_r_**e**_a_**k**…

Kisa's head shot up at the sound, and she glanced around her in confusion. Haru, who was sitting next to her, asked her what was wrong.

"I thought I heard something coming…from the wall." She inclined her head in the direction of the wall.

Haru blinked and turned to face the wall. There was nothing out of the ordinary but Haru didn't doubt Kisa's hearing.

'_I'll tell Kyou about it after the feast.'_

* * *

As soon as everyone had eaten their fill, the plates were immediately cleared while Ayame stood from his seat to walk toward the end of the room where he would perform in front of everyone. Although he was completely sure that he knew the steps, it didn't necessarily mean he wasn't nervous. Still, when two Sohmas entered in from the door across the room, carrying instruments to play for the dance, his nervousness disappeared to be replaced with determination.

The dance wasn't very long but it was tiring in its own way. The first notes from the violin signified the first step, and with his eyes closed like so many times before, Ayame began. His dance was supposed to mimic the snake's movement, an almost hypnotic twist and turn of his body and by the time he was done, only the lightest tinge of pink betrayed his previous exertions.

Ayame gave a wide smile as everyone clapped at the end of his performance, though he dared not let his eyes wander further up to the table to see Akito's face, and consequently, his own brother's face. Either way, Ayame was still grateful to sit back down because it finally put an end to the night's celebrations—at least, the _Sohma_ celebrations. There was still Yuki who was probably pretty lonely by now. One by one, each of them stood up to leave. Ayame wanted to hurry out so they could all go back to Yuki's room and it was certainly clear to both Hatori and Shigure. Ayame quickly passed Shigure, wordlessly showing that he'd lead the way, that is, until he nearly knocked over someone else.

Yuki, his little brother.

For a second, the two just stared back at each other. Yuki, his face a blank show of emotion, regarded his brother for what seemed like an eternity to Ayame before he abruptly turned away and continued out the hall. Thoughts of hurrying to a certain Yuki Suyama were replaced with thoughts of his Yuki Sohma. Somehow, the very thought kept him from moving and the others walked out around him.

"Ayame?" Shigure asked, concerned for Ayame's stillness. He was just standing there, staring after the spot his younger brother had occupied. Hatori was making his way from around to the table to join them.

The only other person left in the room was Akito who was taking his time coming out. He had apparently seen the brief exchange for he walked right up to Ayame's immobile stance to speak to him.

"Quite the picture of brotherly love, ne Ayame-san?" it was followed by soft laughter from Akito before he too, left the hall.

Not quite sure what to say for the moment, Shigure did the first thing that came to mind. Turn Ayame's thoughts to something else. "Hey, Aya, come on, Yuki—_eh_..Suyama, is waiting."

That seemed to be the thing that snapped Ayame from his stupor. "_Ah_, I forgot!" Ayame cried loudly, as if forgetting his earlier shock at Yuki's silent rebuttal. "Let's go!"

Exchanging worried glances, Hatori and Shigure let Ayame usher them out of the hall.

* * *

Yuki wished for what seemed like the millionth time that he hadn't come in the first place. It might be his immediate boredom, or the fact that he was so close to his family was sinking in, but regardless, he just felt everything was going smoothly—maybe too smoothly—and that it would all come crashing down before the day was over.

After making that small creaking sound against the wall, Yuki had nearly resolved to leave the room, in fact, leave the Sohma Estate to go back to Akio's home so that he'd be far away from the whole mess but something had stopped him then, something like what it would have been like for his cousins to find an empty room. Yuki didn't want to risk Ayame doing something drastic—well, drastic in Ayame's terms since he always did drastic things.

Sighing tiredly, Yuki lay down on the floor of the room, uncaring for the wrinkles his robes may incur. Throwing an arm across his eyes, Yuki wondered if he'd fall asleep and wake up back in the present. The idea proved to be pointless as soon as Yuki heard the door slide open. Yuki chose not to move, toying with the idea that they'd think he fell asleep. Just before the door slid open, Yuki dropped that idea and patiently waited for them to come in.

The first thing Yuki was aware of was the smell of food. He was grateful they brought more substantial food then the snacks, though Yuki wondered if their absences would be noticed.

"We bring New Year's dinner!" Shigure said, smiling broadly as he laid down several plates of food with Hatori. "We hope you didn't wait too long?"

Yuki shook his head.

"If you have any cramps, Aya and I know are quite adept at… massages."

Yuki's face heated up at the tone of voice Shigure used, shaking his head adamantly. "No thanks."

Shigure shrugged with a wink. "Maybe later."

Yuki doubted that would happen but didn't voice it out loud. He smiled his thanks to Hatori when he was handed a pair of chopsticks. As soon as he started eating, the other three sat around in the table and they all engaged in idle talk. More like, Hatori and Yuki sat and listened to both Shigure and Ayame's antics.

"_Eh_.. remember what Ms. Okita said about the spring play? We'll be using 'Gure-san's work!"

Shigure blinked at that, having forgotten about the incident, but smiled proudly when he thought about it. He looked it Hatori and Yuki coyly, "so, who will audition for the lead roles in my play?"

Ayame played along, leaning his face forward to regard both of the boys' uncomfortable faces. "And who will wear my fantastic costumes?"

Hatori and Yuki pointed at each other wordlessly.

"What!" Shigure widened his eyes comically. "How cruel! The sheer brilliance of my work needs to be represented by only the best! I expect both of you at the auditions!"

Yuki frowned. "No, absolutely not. I'll be content to just sit in the audience—"

Ayame looked completely shocked at Yuki's answer. "You won't wear _any_ of my designs? Don't you like them?"

Yuki suddenly looked wary. "I…well, of course I do, it's just…" What could Yuki say? He hadn't seen any of Ayame's other designs in the past, only the future. The robes he was wearing at the moment were alright but that didn't mean everything else Ayame made was still the same. "I can't act." He ended lamely.

"Nonsense," Shigure said dismissively, "Aya and I could coach you if that's your only problem."

"Then it's definitely **no**."

Hatori quietly chuckled at Yuki's response and Ayame and Shigure's reactions. Their time spent together was so easygoing that he could almost forget the enigma Yuki represented. There were still many things that Hatori wanted to clear up before he could really feel comfortable. He knew Shigure felt the same way; all that was left now was to find out more about Yuki Suyama.

'_Easier said than done._' Hatori thought grimly, remembering first and foremost of Yuki's amnesia. Throughout their time spent with Yuki, it was very easy to forget that the boy had amnesia. The fact that he _did_ have amnesia made a whole lot of things complicated. Shigure had suggested earlier that they find all they could on the Suyama family but so far their efforts had turned up nothing.

Albeit, they hadn't searched _everywhere_, but surely there would be reports of a missing boy somewhere. Neither he nor Shigure had much time to search deeply into Yuki Suyama's past, choosing instead to see if Yuki would let more about himself be known.

And now… Yuki was displaying knowledge of certain things he shouldn't know. The familiarity he evoked in them was the most nagging thing of all. Hatori idly toyed with the idea of just confronting Yuki about it all.

His serious thoughts were halted by an unexpected yawn coming from Yuki. Said boy smiled sheepishly, one hand rubbing his left eye as he fought back his sudden bout of sleepiness. _'Where'd that come from? I was wide awake not one minute ago…'_

"…I think it's time for Yuki to go home." Hatori pointed out, not unkindly.

Surprisingly, Ayame didn't insist and helped Yuki up. "We don't want you to fall asleep on the way home."

Fighting back another yawn, Yuki allowed Ayame to steer him towards the doors. "m'fine…" Yuki mumbled. "m'not—_yawn_—m'not sleepy…"

"You don't look like you could even make it out of the Sohma Estate by yourself." Shigure pointed exasperatedly, glancing back at Hatori as he spoke.

Yuki forcibly shook his head. "No, I-I remember the way back." Yuki slid open the doors, sticking his head out marginally to see if the coast was clear. There seemed to be no activity around, seeing as how late it was already. "I'll see you at school then." Giving a small wave, Yuki hurriedly stepped out and slid the door behind him. Not wanting them to catch him, Yuki hurried down the hall towards the gates that would lead him out of the Sohma Estate.

Part of the reason he wanted to leave now was because he feared he might let something slip if he was half-asleep. He couldn't risk that so it meant leaving that very moment. Throughout his impromptu dinner with them, he couldn't help the feeling that something had happened that night. It was as if he was forgetting something that had happened, something _important_ but he didn't know what. The more he thought about it, the more alarmed he was beginning to feel. Had he already let something slip that he shouldn't have? Because that's what he felt like.

He didn't even have time to consider what he was feeling because he heard the sound of small footsteps heading his way. They were coming down the hall, the very hall that held the door to the outside. He only needed to cross the courtyard, pull open the gates, and he'd be free! Biting his lip, Yuki hurried forward, quickly sliding the door open and ran out.

"_Hey, you—!" _came the shouted yell from somewhere behind him.

Heart pounding, Yuki ran towards the gates with his robes flapping around him. He hurriedly pulled open the gates and pushed them closed behind him. He glanced up to see who had run after him, and briefly met eyes with a young Hatsuharu before the gates shut.

Cursing his luck, Yuki ran the rest of the way home.

* * *

**A/N**: How do you like the story so far? I tried to make this my longest chapter to make up for the wait so I hope you enjoyed it! I hope not too many people were disappointed about the lack of a dancing scene. If you hadn't read my first author's note at the top, then let me just reiterate that I wanted to hurry the update. Besides, the chapter was getting a bit lengthy…heh. And what about Ayame's earlier behavior? Not too OOC, I hope. I was sort of aiming for how much Yuki's presence is affecting him.

**I** changed the tradition a bit. I don't know exactly how many of you have actually read the manga, but they said that in the New Year's Banquet **two people** dance. The one who had to dance last year and the one after. However, it wouldn't fit with how the events I'm writing in the chapter so I just sort of ignored that piece of information. It shouldn't do anything to the story, but I'd just like to call it out for those who are keeping one eye on my stories and the other on the manga!

**T**he scene where Yuki remembers Akito holding a meeting was actually done in the manga. Well, I've only seen this mentioned once, and it was during present day when Tohru is with them.. but I get the feeling that Akito has done this before in the past. I do have a scan of what I was picturing when I wrote out that particular scene in the **SBBOrg** website so you can check it out there if you want.

**As **for the clothes Ayame designed for Yuki, I found the picture on the internet and thought it was fitting! XD


	11. Important Memories

**Title**: Ripples by the Pond

**Author**: Gia

**Website**: http/ sbborg . cjb . net

**Rating**: PG

**Pairing**: none

**Time**: 90's. During the Mabudachi Trio's high school time.

**Summary**: A wish Ayame made in the past sends Yuki reeling back in time. Finding himself sharing a class with the Mabudachi Trio themselves, Yuki must find a way to keep his secret hidden or risk losing himself in the past forever.

**Disclaimer**: The story here is non-profit and for purely entertainment purposes; nor is it affiliated to Hakusensha or any other publishers of Fruits Basket. The manga belongs to Natsuki Takaya and the plot belongs to me.

**Author** **Notes**: Eheh… it's been awhile, eh? It's a lousy consolation but if you've noticed, I haven't uploaded anything for my other stories either. Sometimes I'm busy, yeah, but most of the time… it's just scraping together some kind of motivation… I've got plenty of ideas on how the story will continue but actually getting to that point… its tricky! But don't worry, I'm still trudging onward! ENJOY THE CHAPTER!

* * *

_Akio reached out and laid a comforting hand on his own cold hands. "I'm sorry but that is my honest opinion."_

_Yuki silently shook his head. "You're wrong. I'm going to get back to my time."_

"_Yuki…" There was a sigh. "I think you need to stop __**fooling**__ yourself. I guess I was wrong to…indulge in this idea you had but enough is enough."_

_Yuki looked up at him. Akio wasn't saying what he thinks he's saying…is he?_

_Akio pursed his lips with determination. "I've already called them. They say that you're case isn't irreparable. They can help you where I couldn't."_

_The sincerity behind Akio's words was devastating. He honestly thought… _

"_Akio-san, listen. You're wrong. I'm not crazy and I'm not lying—"_

"_Yuki," again that comforting hand squeezing his own, "you're going to be late."_

"_I—what?"_

"You're going to be late."

* * *

**Ripples by the Pond **

By Gia

_Chapter Eleven: Memories, Changes, and a Hint of Progress_

* * *

Yuki blinked blearily up at Akio's face. The last vestiges of his dream faded from his eyes as Yuki took in the bemused expression on the other man's face. "I—what time is it?" 

Yuki sat up in his bed, ignoring Akio's exaggerated sigh. "Late. I get it." Keeping one hand over his yawning mouth, Yuki barely paid attention to Akio's morning lecture on the dangers of low blood pressure.

"Hai, hai…" Yuki muttered after several minutes later, coming out from his bathroom refreshed and dressed for school.

"_Oi_, Yuki, are you listening—?"

"Hai, hai…" Yuki repeated, giving a tired nod in Akio's direction, though he was careful in walking down the stairs. _'I don't have time for breakfast…'_

"—so I think you should start drinking—"

"Ne, Akio-san, we're both late." Yuki pointed at Akio. "You shouldn't be lecturing me if you're still not dressed."

"Ara?" Akio looked down at his mochi-patterned pajamas. "…eheh. I'll be down in five minutes." And with that, Akio raced back up the stairs.

Yuki shook his head exasperatedly, but found that he wasn't really annoyed since Akio _had_ waited up for him. The reason for his lack of sleep was because of the unease that had built since that night at the Sohma Estate. His heart had been racing even when he had already lain down on his bed; Hatsuharu's young face still swam before his eyes. If Haru told anyone other than the three… he couldn't imagine the kind of punishment they might receive. Once vacation had ended, Yuki had convinced himself that all was well but no matter how confident he felt, he couldn't shake the feeling that the three already _knew_ of the slip. Ayame was watching him more than ever—because he'd spent that night with them? Yuki snorted when the thought occurred to him because the phrasing sounded inappropriate. He could practically hear what Shigure would say if here to voice that thought aloud.

And speaking of Shigure, both he and Hatori were also watching him when they thought he wasn't looking. Whereas Ayame's gaze was questioning, the gaze of the other two felt more probing than anything else. The fact that they hadn't confronted him, had just _pretended_ that all was well, only assured Yuki that whatever relationship he had with them was on rocky waters.

He vividly recalled that morning after the feast at the Sohma Estate; he was clutching a cup of hot tea in his hand as he waited for the phone to ring. While the Mabudachi Trio had phoned multiple times over the rest of vacation, inviting him to go out with them to various places, Yuki was hesitant to take them up on their offers. It was only until Ayame had threatened to carry Yuki bodily out of the house again that Yuki agreed to see them; but not once on any of their outings did they mention any possible slips in their crime of sneaking a stranger into the feast. In fact, Ayame had only seen to informing Yuki about how to clean his hand-made robes properly.

For all that evidence, it should've been clear that they didn't know. All the discomfort he sensed between them was just his imagination. That's what Yuki had told himself at first but it wasn't enough to return the restful nights he had before he went to the Sohma Estate. _'It's been what, two weeks? Three weeks since that night? I can't keep worrying like this._' The thoughts continued to swirl in his mind until, yawning once more into his hand, Yuki headed over to the couch and let his head fall back. Not a moment later, Yuki's eyes drifted shut.

* * *

"Yuki, Yuki…?" he was being shaken awake again. Suppressing the urge to yawn, Yuki opened his eyes to stare blearily into Akio's concerned ones. 

"Oh? Are you ready to go, Akio-san?" His only reply was to feel Akio's hand on his forehead.

"You're a little warm…" Akio trailed off uncertainly. "How do you feel?"

"Just tired, I guess. Really, what's gotten into you?"

Akio pursed his lips. "Why don't you take some medicine just in case before we head to school?"

Yuki yawned again. "I'm fine. _Really_, I'm just tired." He put his hand down away from his face to stare at Akio. "See? Just yawning. I'm _fine_. We should go to school now, or we'll be even later."

Akio finally relented but inwardly decided to keep an eye on him (_just in case_) at school. _'Hmm… when did I get so paternal? Ah, I feel so old…_' Akio hung his head.

"Akio-san? Are you alright?"

"Ah!" Akio's head shot up and he grinned sheepishly. "Let's get going."

* * *

It seemed to take longer to climb the stairs than it usually did for Yuki. He didn't feel sick, he decided. His body just felt really tired. He couldn't explain it; lack of sleep shouldn't have stripped him so severely of endurance. The only thing he could think to help is plan to sleep earlier in the evening. 

As soon as he made it to the top of the stairs, he actually had to pause to get his bearings. It was like he'd run a mile. Shaking his head at his fatigue, Yuki walked out into the hallway and spotted the Mabudachi Trio.

He intended to raise his hand and wave back at the three Sohmas who were waiting for him in the hallway, but all he ended up doing was yawning into his mouth again. When he finally made it over to the three, Shigure was already halfway through the possible reasons Yuki could be tired. And they all centered around…beds.

Sometimes, Yuki tried not to understand Shigure's logic.

"We've got Physiology next." Ayame spoke up as they were walking to their classroom. He nodded and smiled to several boys who were walking in the opposite direction.

"We'll be starting the dissection today." Hatori supplied, shifting his school bag into his other hand.

Yuki glanced at Hatori through the corner of his eye. "What exactly are we going to dissect?"

Shigure gave a strained smile as he quickly glanced at Ayame before focusing his attention to Yuki. "Snakes."

Yuki's eyes widened and he glanced at Ayame. It was like recalling a memory from long ago, but Yuki distinctly remembered Ayame saying he had given them a proper burial somewhere around school. But now that he thought about it, he knew it would be impossible now. Dissection was going to be happening in other classes all day. Maybe it was the way Ayame had wished it to be. He couldn't do anything for his fellow snakes in the past, but he could change their ending in his stories. _Such a sad thought_ Yuki thought to himself, catching himself staring at his brother.

Once he became aware, he realized he could now feel Shigure's stare boring into the side of his head. Clearing his throat uncertainly, Yuki turned to Ayame, "Do you dislike snakes?"

'_Yes, that makes more sense. I'm concerned because I think he doesn't like snakes, not because he __**is**__ a snake.'_

Hearing the question directed at him, Ayame shook his head. "No, snakes are fine. I just don't like the idea of dissecting them. It's horrible." Ayame actually shuddered so Yuki sent him a sympathetic glance.

Two boys, also heading to the same classroom, overheard what Ayame said and shifted closer. "You shouldn't worry, Ayame-san." One of the boys said.

"Yeah, they're already dead. They won't feel a thing." The second boy gave an encouraging grin.

Yuki inwardly winced at their words and nodded to them with a forced smile as they walked on ahead into the classroom. He pretended not to notice when both Shigure and Hatori whispered encouraging words to Ayame. Yuki took a seat on the stool at an empty table, not even flinching when he realized the snakes were already laid out on trays at each table. The smell of formaldehyde was pervasive in the classroom but Yuki was actually thankful for the odor in keeping him awake.

Shigure took the seat next to him, snapping Yuki out of his idle contemplation on the snake in front of him. "Be my partner, Yuki?"

Yuki snorted when Shigure actually batted his eyelashes as he asked. "Do I have a choice? We're assigned partners."

Shigure pouted in reply.

Before Yuki could make a comment about Shigure's antics, the teacher chose that moment to arrive at the classroom. As far as Yuki could tell, he—Haruhi Ikeda—was the youngest teacher on staff. He had above average height, enough that his hair almost reached the top of the doorway to the classroom. He gave off a roguish feel, as if he were better suited to physical labor than teaching science. The primary reason Yuki liked him was because he was immune to the Mabudachi Trio's charms, or rather, he found them more amusing than distracting.

"Send a partner up to pick up the trays and instruments." He instructed, hands already pushing his sleeves up his arms. In front of him, there were already several trays laden with the newly cleansed tools.

"If you've got extra juice," he grinned when two boys sent him faint looks, "then the other partner can go to the sink and pour it out."

Once everyone had returned to their seats, Ikeda told them to pull out their dissection books to turn to an already dissected diagram of the snake.

"Everyone's dissection should look like that once we're done." Ikeda called out. "Now make a long incision down the center of the ventral surface, from the cloacal opening to the throat."

The teacher took to walking down the aisles, nodding as he passed each table. "Once you've made the incision, remember to carefully pull back the skin and pin it down on either side."

He suddenly strode towards the far side of the room where Makoto Saizo was seated with Naoto. "Hey, hey, easy there. I said to be careful."

Yuki couldn't help but smile as Saizo grumbled his acknowledgement. _'So unlike his younger brother.'_

"You're going to have to cut the membrane layer underneath." Ikeda pointed out towards Saizo's snake. "Then _carefully_ pull it back. Don't rip the skin or there won't be anything to see."

Ikeda straightened up and continued walking around the tables. He stopped at Yuki's and Shigure's table, nodding with approval at the snake's pinned body. "Once the snake is opened, observe how it looks inside. You should all be able to name some of the major organs."

At that last statement, the boys hurriedly bent over their books to see the labels for each organ. Naoto snickered quietly at his partner when the other slammed his nose painfully into the book.

"And start identifying the parts on page 38." Ikeda instructed again, rolling his eyes at Saizo's swearing before moving off to Ayame and Hatori's table.

"Something wrong?" Ikeda asked looking pointedly at Ayame's disgusted face. Hatori sat up straighter in his seat, nudging Ayame to get him to drop his expression. "No, sensei, we're fine."

Ikeda raised his eyebrow. "Then why don't you finish pinning—_ah_, _ah_, I think I'd like to see Ayame do some of the work."

Hatori, who had already been pulling the skin back, looked up at Ikeda. "Sensei?"

Ikeda sighed. "Come now, you heard me. It's already been sanitized," Ikeda stated, now addressing Ayame directly, "so you don't need to worry about touching it."

Ayame pursed his lips but made no move to take up where Hatori had left off.

Yuki, along with Shigure, had been watching quietly from the side. When it was clear that Ayame wasn't going to participate, Shigure had begun to rise from his seat. Yuki understood Ayame's reluctance, but on the other hand, there was nothing to be done. The snakes were dead and Ayame couldn't change that. He was going to make a scene, fail the dissection lab, and now it looked as if Shigure was going to share the same fate.

_Should I step in?_ Yuki wondered, seeing Ikeda turn back to their table when he noticed Shigure's movement in the corner of his eye.

Inwardly sighing, Yuki abruptly scooted back from his chair and stood up. "Ikeda-sensei, I—_oh_." He brought his hand up to his head. His vision was suddenly swimming and his lungs clenched painfully—it felt like he was going to choke or black out.

_I'd almost forgotten what it was like to have another asthma attack._ Yuki thought dazedly, falling to his knees and coughing into his hand.

Ikeda immediately hurried over, (_"Makoto, tell the nurse!"_) pressing a hand to Yuki's forehead. "You're burning up Suyama." There was a small undertone of exasperation in his voice. "Students normally stay home if they're sick, you know."

Yuki tried a grin but it was broken by a renewed bout of coughing. Shigure, who had knelt down from behind, rubbed soothing circles on his back to ease the strain. Despite his appreciation at Shigure's gesture, Yuki wished all the other students would stop staring. He didn't like attention normally, whether it was his apparent 'beauty' or asthma attacks.

When it seemed the worst of his coughing had abated, Ikeda pulled him up and _into_ his arms.

"Sensei—_wa!_"

Ikeda rolled his eyes at Yuki's scarlet face. "Got to get you to the nurse somehow, Suyama, seeing as how you don't seem fit to walk just yet."

He turned back to the other boys who had abandoned the lesson in favor of talking. "Alright boys, turn to page 87 in your textbooks and start reading."

There was much groaning all around before the students grudgingly turned back to their books.

"Eh, Hatori," the boy drew his eyes away from Yuki to stare at his teacher, "watch the class while I take Suyama to the office." Hatori nodded slowly, his eyes glancing back down at Yuki's flushed face.

"Let us come too Sensei." Shigure suddenly added, stepping beside Ayame who looked determined to follow the teacher. "We can help pull the door back for you."

"That takes one person." Ikeda replied wryly. "But debating won't get us anywhere. Let's go."

And with that, the odd foursome headed to the nurse's office.

* * *

Yuki couldn't help the flinch when the nurse's hand came towards his face to rest on his forehead. Intellectually, he had accepted that his transformation wouldn't occur in the past but _instinctually_, his body had yet to accustom to the touch. _And what's the point in feeling my forehead when I've already got a thermometer in my mouth!_ Yuki thought to himself as he willingly opened his mouth to deposit the stick in the nurse's hand. 

"A thirty-nine…" the nurse muttered to herself before looking back at him. "You should be in bed resting, not here at school."

Yuki could do nothing but shrug. "I didn't feel that bad this morning."

The nurse merely sighed before firmly pushing him back to lie down. "I'll get some medicine and you just lie here. Maybe Akio-san can drive you home during his break."

_I'm always pulling him away from work_. Yuki couldn't help but muse. He watched her walk away and only then did he allow his eyes to stray towards Ayame and Shigure. The two had kept their distance during his check-up but finally approached when it was over.

"How are you feeling?" Ayame asked, putting a hand to Yuki's forehead.

"Just hot I guess." Yuki muttered, lightly pushing Ayame's hand away. "You'll both get sick too if you keep touching me."

"Your concern is heartwarming, my dear Yuki!" Ayame crowed.

"But the damsel in distress shouldn't be worrying about her knights in shining armor!" Shigure added.

Yuki rolled his eyes.

The door to the infirmary slid open as the nurse returned with the medication. "You two can go to class now," she said after handing Yuki a glass of water to wash down the taste, "he's _sick_ not dying."

"We just can't help but worry over our _dear—!"_

Ayame had no chance in finishing his sentence because a pillow had been chucked at his face. Yuki pretended to fluff up his remaining pillow under his head. Shigure's wide-eyed stare shot back from Yuki's oblivious expression to Ayame's shocked one.

The nurse smiled indulgently at the scene but firmly shooed them out. "I think that's a good sign of Suyama's recovery." She replied to their objections.

She turned back to Yuki, pausing only for a moment to pick up the fallen pillow. "I don't condone throwing school property," she began, "_but_ it was amusing to see Ayame silenced with a pillow."

Yuki could only laugh in reply.

* * *

Some time later, Yuki didn't know how long, he found himself waking up in the infirmary. _'Did I miss any classes?' _he wondered, sitting up in the bed to look around. The curtains were drawn on all three sides so he couldn't see anything but the sunlight streaming in and casting shadows. '_How many classes did I miss?'_

He eased himself off the bed and drew the curtains back. He didn't see the nurse anywhere. Yuki briefly glanced out the window and caught sight of several boys tiptoeing past. Three in particular caught Yuki's eye immediately.

"What are they…?"

"What are they what, Mr. Suyama?"

Yuki jumped a little and turned around. The nurse was standing in the doorway and staring at him. "Oh sorry, just," Yuki wiped a hand across his forehead, "wondering how long I've slept."

The nurse smiled kindly and motioned him to sit back on the bed. She felt his forehead, not registering Yuki's flinch at the touch. "You're still a bit warm. You've only slept through one class—it's lunch now, if you hadn't already realized." She added as an afterthought.

Yuki blinked. He thought he would've heard the school bell ring but he must've been more tired than he realized.

"But are you sure you feel up to returning?"

Yuki smiled and nodded. "I feel a lot better now."

"Well, alright then." She let him go reluctantly, pushing his bentou box into his hands after he assured her that he'd take it easy for the rest of the day.

The only thing on his mind was on spotting those boys pass the infirmary window. From what Yuki could think of, they were heading to the back of the school. Yuki never knew the three to eat back there, always choosing open spaces where many other students would drop by to say hello. He walked through the hallways, only managing small smiles to the other boys that greeted him. Yuki's first assumption that he felt better was demanding to be changed because by the time Yuki had made it outside, he was already flushed.

Yuki gave himself a moment to catch his breath. To be in such poor condition was a little shameful. He'd gone through more than just a fever and he'd never been in this kind of shape. Once he felt able to continue walking, Yuki hurried as much as he could until he was outside. Perhaps the knowledge that he was closer to finding out what was going on that Yuki was able to reach his destination without finding any more trouble in breathing. What he came upon, however, caused his own steps to falter as he took in the scene before him.

The shade offered by the apricot trees covered about four or five boys standing behind Shigure and Hatori. Four of them were holding onto plastic boxes that held a multitude of plastic bags. It didn't take Yuki long to figure out that it held the dead snakes. The others who weren't holding on to baskets held shovels in their hands. Yuki watched in silence as Ayame directed them where to start digging. Yuki was only surprised that a teacher hadn't arrived on the scene to break things up. Either Ayame was overwhelmingly lucky or he had taken certain steps to insure that the area would be clear during lunch time.

It took the boys twenty minutes at the most to dig up the soil and place the packages inside the trench they had dug. Yuki watched all this in silence, even as Ayame had kneeled down and moved the dirt with his own hands. It felt like he shouldn't intrude on this solemn event, even if he was sure that his presence might even be welcomed. The real reason why he didn't step forward to help was because of a memory that had suddenly come to his mind; a memory of the day before he woke up to find himself stuck in the past.

It seemed so long ago (_'but it __**was**__ long ago, wasn't it? At least months!'_ his mind reasoned) that it had become a distant memory. Ayame appearing unexpectedly at Shigure's home; Ayame wasting no time in launching into yet another story about his humanitarian feats in high school.

"—_and I took the snakes and gave them a proper burial under the apricot trees in the back of the school! I couldn't bear to see them mutilated by the hands of my own peers!"_

That was what Ayame had said that afternoon. Yuki had only absorbed the statement but didn't acknowledge it as anything more than exaggerated truth. But once again Yuki was proven wrong. It had happened—happen_ing_ right in front of him. If he were to come in now, how would that affect the future? Would it affect the future?

'_Will I be able to get back to see if it has?'_ came unbidden from the depths of his heart.

It was, perhaps, Yuki's strongest fear. Unvoiced, but wailing loudly inside of him.

"A_**hem.**_"

Yuki turned around and found Ikeda's exasperated face. The teacher had undoubtedly noticed the absence of his lesson's materials. "Ikeda-sensei, I—"

He shook his head and Yuki fell silent. Clearly he was going to witness his own classmates get in trouble but what did that mean for him? Should he say something? But there was nothing that could excuse what they were doing.

"The Sohmas are quite a bit of work, aren't they?" Ikeda asked, surprising Yuki by sending him a smile. Ikeda turned back to the scene; the boys had all just finished their work, the shovels were cast aside beside the empty compartments. Ikeda sighed. "But as a teacher of this school…" he trailed off significantly. He started forward but paused when Yuki asked him to wait.

"Ayame, he…" Yuki felt himself flush when Ikeda raised an eyebrow at him. "He only meant to lay them to rest."

Ikeda continued to look on with amusement as Yuki's blush only increased. There was a cry from ahead of them and it was loud enough to cut the embarrassed silence that had been between them.

One of the boys had finally noticed them and quickly pointed it out to the others. Several boys looked ready to bolt but they all stayed their ground when Ikeda turned away from Yuki to regard them. "Alright boys, should I guess at whose idea this was or will he step forward?"

Without missing a beat, Ayame calmly stepped forward.

Yuki couldn't help but blink in amazement at this action. He had expected some grandiose gesture or exclamation about the injustice—but there was nothing.

"Come along then." Ikeda said, motioning for him to follow, surprising all by turning around and walking away instead of making sure Ayame heeded his instructions. Despite some of the muttered complaints from the other boys, Ayame merely raised a hand to calm them. Yuki watched as Ikeda passed, followed by Ayame. He wanted to say something but there wasn't anything to say.

Ayame seemed to sense his predicament because he surprised Yuki by winking at him. It was déjà vu all over again because Ayame had done the same before he had been taken away after the red-light district fiasco. Yuki managed a grudging smile in return as the two walked back into school. The boys who had been watching all this in silence immediately broke out in murmurs on what Ayame's fate would be. Hatori was quick to disperse them with a few choice words until only Shigure, Hatori, and Yuki remained.

"Yuki!" Shigure called, motioning Yuki closer to them. "I thought you were still at the nurse's office."

"I was," he began, now standing directly in front of the two, "but I felt better so I got out of there."

"And headed here on a whim?"

Yuki flushed uncomfortably under Hatori's penetrating gaze. "I saw some of them pass the window."

"Ah."

There was a pregnant pause, neither side saying a word. Yuki briefly wondered—not for the first time—about telling them that he was spotted by Hatsuharu that night they had sneaked him over. But whenever that particular inclination came over him, the only result Yuki could picture was Hatori attempting to erase his memory of the incident.

Yuki shook his head. It had been several weeks since that night. The only evidence of their daring adventure was the set of robes hanging in Yuki's closet. Sometimes, Yuki would run his hands over the fabric when he came to the closet to hang his uniform or to take out his sleeping clothes. It was something Yuki indulged in when he found himself wondering about the future, or rather, his present.

"…—en't eaten?"

Yuki blanched when he realized he had been silent for too long. He glanced down at the bentou box in his hands before looking back up. "What?"

"Have you eaten yet?" Shigure repeated, gesturing towards his hands.

Yuki shook his head.

"Why don't we," Shigure glanced at Hatori quickly, "just sit here and eat?"

Yuki looked pointedly at the small mounds of dirt that had been used to re-bury the snakes.

"We won't sit right here. Maybe over there." Shigure pointed to a secluded several feet away; the apricot trees still lent their shade to that patch of grass so Yuki nodded and followed the two to the spot. They sat down and began eating. It was then the uneasy feelings came back with a vengeance. They weren't sitting in their usual spot, where they were in plain sight of everyone around them. Meaning here, secluded away, Yuki had the opportunity to tell them. _'Or they could tell me if they know._' A voice in his head whispered. Yuki realized that quiite unintentionally, he only felt unthreatened when Ayame was around to attract attention elsewhere.

Yuki lifted some rice towards his mouth and turned his eyes towards Shigure's form. He was telling them something about the play, but Yuki had drifted too early in the conversation to figure out what he was talking about. Despite Shigure's animated gestures, Yuki found himself feeling like it was the first day of school all over again. As he robotically fed himself, he was aware that Hatori had been glancing at him almost every ten seconds. This continued for quite some time before Yuki set his chopsticks down and turned to him. "Is there something wrong?"

Shigure stilled, cutting off the rest of his sentence before standing up with his food. "I just realized I had a meeting with Okita-san." It was obviously a lie; there was too much cheeriness and the fact that Shigure was already walking away before he could finish his line proved it to be one.

Yuki stared after him before turning back to Hatori. He repeated his question and waited in silence.

It wasn't long before Hatori set his own lunch down and turned so that he could sit and face Yuki directly. There was a determined expression on his face but something akin to sadness flittered behind his eyes. Yuki instantly felt alarmed.

"Hatori what_—ah!"_ Before he could finish his question, Hatori reached out with both hands, gripped his upper arms, and wrenched him forward until he was literally splayed out across Hatori's body, legs tangling with the other boy.

Yuki instantly pushed against his chest but the hands pressed into his skin as a warning. He gave a small cry of pain at the pressure but inside he was furious. What had gotten into Hatori? He realized with blinding clarity when Hatori took his right hand away and placed it gently over his eyes.

He's going to…

"_NO!_" he cried, wrenching himself from Hatori's hold and falling back against the grass. His heartbeat was beating faster than ever and he matched Hatori's shocked stare with his own. Neither boy paid any attention to the fact that Yuki's cry may have attracted attention. It was fortunate then that there was no one around to have witnessed the scene.

Yuki breathed deep to calm himself but it only succeeded in causing him to start coughing rather violently into his hand. Hatori made a move to come closer but he stopped when Yuki raised his hand as if warding himself from him.

"No, stop," Yuki winced at the hoarseness of his voice, "don't come…" he couldn't finish the rest of his command when another bout of coughing came.

It was just as well because he wouldn't have been able to stop Hatori anyway; the boy ignored his attempt and kneeled by his side to help him sit up. He slid his hand across Yuki's back, rubbing gently while his other reached up to feel his forehead. Yuki hadn't even considered that Hatori might have used this moment to once again place his hands over his eyes and take his memories away.

"Should I get the nurse?" Hatori asked quietly.

Yuki shook his head rapidly. His coughs had abated as soon as he was able to sit up properly. It was a lot to happen in such a short span of time. Yuki didn't know where to begin to address what happened.

Hatori suddenly shifted until he was no longer kneeling beside him but rather sitting down next to him. He leaned his right shoulder against Yuki's left, but otherwise, kept his hands away from him.

Yuki idly eyed their lunch which had been knocked away during their brief scuffle. Some of the rice had spilled over and both of their chopsticks were lying in the grass. "What were you going to do?" he asked suddenly, choosing to stare at his ruined lunch than to face Hatori.

To his credit, Hatori tensed only briefly before relaxing. "I was going to," he stopped.

Yuki felt a familiar anger coil in his chest; it was the same anger he felt as a child when Hatori had taken his friends from him. It was easier to remember the sadness he felt, but the anger that had burned through him that day, he pushed far back into the recesses of his mind.

"What," his hands clenched into fists, "were you going to do?" he repeated.

An icy tone had suffused his voice; it was the same one he used with Ayame all the time. Yuki had also forgotten this familiar habit when he interacted with the younger version of his brother. The fact that he did made him feel angrier.

He raised his eyes to stare at the side of Hatori's face. "Tell me," he began until he noticed a tear gather at the corner of Hatori's eye.

Yuki fought vainly against his own feelings but he resigned himself to the fact that Hatori's reaction was enough to suck the anger out of him. He turned away.

Now that anger no longer clouded his mind, he realized that he was asking Hatori to reveal his power to remove memories. Was that even possible? Hatori had no obligation to tell him of his powers; he was more likely to make something up than reveal the truth. Yuki didn't know if this thought could make him feel any worse than he already did.

"I had to finish what I started," Hatori whispered.

Yuki froze. "What?"

"I was going to erase your memories."

If anything, Hatori's admission only caused more tension to seep into Yuki's body. '_What has he done,'_ Yuki thought, _'he's revealed too much. I know already but I can't. How can I react?'_

"You can't believe it but I know Hatsuharu saw you. I saw his memories and I know he saw you. But now he," Hatori drew in a ragged breath, "he doesn't know anymore."

Yuki's mind was racing with this information. Hatori had removed the incident from Hatsuharu's mind? It was scandalous; the dragon had no right to use his ability at his own whim. Only the head of the family could dictate where this talent would be directed. What Hatori had done… no one else had done before.

But now a new thought plagued him. If Hatsuharu no longer knew that Yuki had been snuck in, then the threat was gone, wasn't it? Or did Hatori prefer that neither party was aware of the other?

"I was going to do the same to you."

Yuki inwardly flinched at Hatori's words.

"I assumed you were afraid of what might have happened. You never said a word about it to any of us. So it would've benefited everyone if you had forgotten about it altogether."

'_Ah,'_ Yuki thought, _'that answers my question as to why you would try it on me.'_

"Does this make sense? Am I making any sense to you?" Hatori turned towards him. "Do you believe what I'm saying?"

He couldn't nod too quickly; he had to think it through. Hatori had offered no evidence to his claim, other than the fact that he knew Haru had seen him. It could mean that Haru had told him or that Hatori had viewed Haru's memories with his own power. Either case was likely but Yuki had known Hatori far longer than the boy thought he did.

"I believe you," Yuki began, drawing out his words so he could think about the rest, "but why did you wait so long to do it?"

Hatori regarded him carefully. "Ayame was against it."

Yuki couldn't help it. He tensed once more before relaxing his posture. It was a small action but because Hatori was watching carefully, it hadn't gone unnoticed.

"So now what?" Yuki asked.

"I must apologize," he started but Yuki only shook his head.

"Forget it happened." Yuki couldn't help but grin at the irony of his wording. "I understand," he paused, "somehow. So just forget it happened."

The other boy nodded seriously and they once more lapsed into silence. If Yuki thought before that their relationship had changed, then it was nothing compared to how it was now. Yuki had an intimate piece of knowledge about Hatori and both Ayame and Shigure would know this. Would it drastically change how the four of them interacted?

A small groan caught Yuki's attention and he glanced questioningly at Hatori. It didn't take long to deduce from Hatori's lightly tinged cheeks that the groan had come from Hatori's stomach. The silence could only last so long before both of them began to laugh. It would've surprised anyone who walked by to see the two so caught up in their laughter. In a way, it released all the tension that their bodies held ever since the New Year's feast; the inexplicable fear they felt when they celebrated the success of having a stranger at the New Year's feast, the horror at the possibility of having their actions known, the possibility of memories being taken against a person's will.

All of this vanished and whatever misgivings Yuki felt about changes happening to their relationship—to their friendship—were instantly wiped away as their laughter dwindled down.

Then the bell to signal the end of lunch finally tolled.

Yuki stood up before Hatori did and turned to give the taller boy a hand. Hatori accepted it and the two stood side by side. "Shigure wasn't going to come back, was he?"

Hatori shook his head. "He went to go check on Ayame."

"And to avoid interfering," Yuki added for him as he bent down to pick up his lunch. He closed the lid and straightened up. "Right?"

"Right." Hatori looked pensive for a moment, already clutching his closed bentou box in his hands. "Yuki about what I told you…"

"Your secret's safe with me."

Hatori surprised Yuki by bowing deeply before straightening up. "Thank you."

It took a moment for Yuki to get over his initial shock. "You're welcome."

The two hurried back inside the building, joining several stragglers in the hallway on the way to class. Yuki thought that after today's events, he had managed to grow closer to Hatori. He was beginning to understand his aloof cousin a little more; it was an occurrence that probably would have never happened in the present but somehow in the past, it had happened.

It was a little disconcerting to realize that the day was only half over and yet so much had occurred since that morning.

He had come a long way since his first meeting with the other Sohmas. In some fashion, Yuki had lost some of his unfriendliness towards them. Their persistence had won out in the end, he realized. He _had_ grown closer to them even when he meant to keep some distance between them.

It was a daunting thought but as Yuki slipped into the seat for his class, he couldn't deny that this revelation had warmed his heart considerably.

* * *

**_TBC_**

* * *

**AN:** I'm finally, finally done with this chapter! I wrote the first half like _two_ years ago and finally finished it into the wee hours of the morning. 

The tone of this chapter was more somber than comedic, but I felt that some progress in their relationship needed to be shown. I don't know if anyone's noticed, but Yuki grows closer to them _individually_. I had him start off well with Ayame, (some might consider this counter-intuitive but I've got plans with this) then to Hatori, and we've got Shigure left. If you hadn't guessed already, that **spring play** is going to be it.

And I suppose I should mention that this story is almost at its end. I don't want to give a definite number but I think I can confidently say it won't be more than five more chapters before this story is over! I could be eating these words later but it's what I honestly feel right now.

I think I've covered basically everything either Hatori, Shigure, or Ayame had mentioned happening when they were in high school. (_If I haven't, please let me know and I can fit it into the next chapters!_) The snake thing was a little tricky because I've never dissected one before (pigs, cats, cow's eyes, frogs, hearts, etc. but no snakes) so I hope that part went smoothly.

Hatori's attempt on Yuki's memory is _**still**_ going to be touched upon in the next chapter but it won't be a vital section. Certain things are going to be set into motion so no one can breathe a sigh of relief just yet!

Anyway, this note has gone on far longer than I intended so let me just say, thank you for reading! I hope you can leave some thoughts on what you thought and (hopefully) look forward to the next chapter!


	12. Shigure's Play

**Title**: Ripples by the Pond

**Author**: Gia

**Website**: http/ sbborg . cjb . net

**Rating**: PG

**Pairing**: none

**Time**: 90's. During the Mabudachi Trio's high school time.

**Summary**: A wish Ayame made in the past sends Yuki reeling back in time. Finding himself sharing a class with the Mabudachi Trio themselves, Yuki must find a way to keep his secret hidden or risk losing himself in the past forever.

**Disclaimer**: The story here is non-profit and for purely entertainment purposes; nor is it affiliated to Hakusensha or any other publishers of Fruits Basket. The manga belongs to Natsuki Takaya and the plot belongs to me.

**Author** **Notes**: I was supposed to focus on my other stories but with this one so close to a possible end… I just couldn't resist. I've been trying to figure out how to build to the end—since I'm so keen on finishing it—but every time I take a stab at it, I feel as if there was more I could've written. So either you're getting ridiculously long chapters or far more chapters than I had anticipated. It seems more like a win-win situation for everyone involved but I want to say that it's too early to throw in the towel. Anyway, I hope everyone enjoys the chapter!

* * *

"You're quieter than usual, Yuki, did something happen in school today?" 

Yuki jerked in his car seat as he turned to face Akio. To be honest, Yuki couldn't find the words to describe what had occurred earlier that morning; in fact, he couldn't even begin to describe how edgy he felt when, after lunch had ended, he was reunited with Ayame and Shigure. Although neither of the two was there during Hatori's failed attempt to erase his memory, Yuki had the suspicion that the two knew something had gone awry.

It was, unfortunately in Yuki's opinion, true when Hatori had pulled the two aside and confessed of his admission to Yuki—about failing to erase the boy's memory and the fact the he knew Hatori had the ability _to_ erase memories.

The reactions were, more or less, unsurprising. Shigure had given Hatori a searching look while Ayame had instantly focused his attention on Yuki (who was only standing a few feet away). While it was clear that no hard feelings were between them, it was safe to say that the afternoon had seen better moments between the trio and Yuki.

"Nothing happened, Akio-san, nothing at all."

* * *

**Ripples by the Pond **

By Gia

_Chapter Twelve: Close Encounters of an Unexpected Nature

* * *

_

February. It was almost February. Yuki didn't know where the time had gone. School had ended for the day but Yuki had chosen to stay by after school to help both Shigure and Ayame with preparations for the play. It wouldn't be long before Shigure's debut so a lot of the students were practicing daily for the night of the performance. Auditions were still going on because while most of the parts had been chosen, neither Shigure nor the teacher in charge of the stage production could decide on the people to play the main characters.

Yuki was constantly wheedled about auditioning opposite Hatori but so far he managed to avoid it. Still, with just several more days until February, it was clear that something had to be decided on.

'_It's not like I'm guaranteed the role if I audition,'_ Yuki tried telling himself, stopping in the middle of the empty hallway to look outside. The courtyard below was deserted so there wasn't much to see. Despite that, Yuki couldn't help but think how many times he had walked down there and through these very same hallways as if it was perfectly normal. It was almost too easy to forget that he didn't belong here.

However, Yuki had yet to make any headway as to what he needed to do to get back. If it truly involved his relatives in any way then he had to make some effort. But what? Spending time with them? He was already doing that! Even more so now that the spring play was going to be held soon. It didn't help matters that Shigure alluded to several Sohma relatives coming to watch the performance.

It was yet another reason that Yuki didn't want to audition. If, by some odd chance, he was picked to act on the stage with the others, one of the relatives might recognize him or make some kind of connection. Perhaps it was paranoia on Yuki's side, but thinking of the possibility of having more than three Sohmas around him at once had Yuki shuddering with slight fear.

His eyes traced the path of a lone leaf flying with the current of the air. It was only until it was carried out of his sight that Yuki came back to himself and realized he was still holding a box of fabric that Ayame was waiting for. Shigure, meanwhile, was still in the auditorium no doubt running lines with some of the other students.

Yuki sighed and hurried to the classroom that Ayame was waiting in. He didn't believe he spent too much time outside daydreaming but he did have errands to run to help with Shigure's production. He wasn't at all surprised that Ayame had volunteered to help with the costumes although Yuki couldn't help but worry that Ayame was taking on a lot of work. In the end, though, it didn't matter because Ayame was more disciplined about his work than he had led Yuki to believe.

When he slid the class door open he was greeted with the sight of Ayame bent over a table, measuring a royal blue fabric. His brother's hair was pulled back from his face, tied haphazardly into a low pony-tail. Yuki thought it made his brother look a little more masculine, perhaps even more mature, although the image was broken when Ayame looked up and sent a wink in Yuki's direction.

"Yuki, I missed y…" Ayame trailed off when Yuki sent him a warning glance. Ayame merely laughed in return, gesturing amiably for Yuki to come closer with the box of different colored fabrics.

"Is that all you need?"

"I could use a little help with this measuring."

Yuki's eyebrows creased as he eyed the oddly shaped paper Ayame had draped over the long fabric. He was trying to figure out what the design was suppose to be but he couldn't recall anything from Shigure's play. Come to think of it…

"What's Shigure's play about again?"

Ayame blinked up at him from his perusal through the box of fabric. "Shigure hasn't told you?"

Yuki shrugged, his eyes drifting away from Ayame's astonished face to focus on the table. "I wasn't really paying attention that afternoon."

"That afternoon… _oh_."

'_Yes, __**oh**__,'_ Yuki thought, _'the afternoon after Hatori tried to erase my memories.'_

Ayame's expression melted away to be replaced with a cheerful grin. "In that case, why don't you audition and find out what it's about yourself?"

Yuki didn't bother hiding covering his snort. "Don't even think about it."

"Oh come on, Yuki," Ayame whined, pouring all his attention into sidling up to Yuki until he was standing uncomfortably close, "you'll really like it."

Yuki refrained from fidgeting under the other boy's earnest gaze. Every time one of the boys invaded his personal space, Yuki had this irrational fear that they would see him for who he really was—Yuki Sohma—and… what? Denounce him? Tell Akito? Yuki hadn't thought that far ahead but—

"Yuki?"

A hand moved back and forth in front of his face. "Are you there?"

Yuki blinked rapidly, taking an unconscious step back when Ayame easily leaned his forehead against Yuki's to take his temperature. "Your mind seemed to go somewhere else just now," Ayame remarked, eying him, "are you feeling okay?"

"Yes," Yuki snapped, unsurprised that Ayame wasn't deterred by his tone, "just don't stand so close next time."

"Yuki…" Ayame began.

"I don't want to audition." He crossed his arms in defiance.

"But it's such a good script!"

Yuki adamantly shook his head. "I don't care, I don't like it."

Ayame's eyebrow rose. "Auditioning or the play?"

"Both!"

"You don't even know what Gure-san's play is about."

"I don't need to, it's undoubtedly something very," Yuki couldn't search for a word that described his suspicions of a heavily sexual play, "romantic."

Ayame couldn't help the chuckling that resulted in Yuki's obvious distaste for describing what Shigure's play could be about. "Now, Yuki, don't be like that. It's actually…"

Yuki wondered if he imagined it, but he could have sworn he saw an unnamable expression flit through Ayame's face as he searched for the words to describe Shigure's play.

"Quite different from what you imagine," Ayame ended, an odd smile upturning his lips.

"Oh?" Yuki couldn't help, he was intrigued. "How's that?"

"Well, you'll find out if you audition."

Yuki opened his mouth to remind his brother again what he thought about auditioning but the sound of the door sliding open caused him to pause. Shigure entered, looking uncharacteristically annoyed about something. "She doesn't get it, I don't know why I thought she would get it!"

Yuki's eyes widened when Shigure strode in, hands gesturing wildly as he approached Ayame. "She wants to change the storyline!"

Ayame blinked. "What do you mean? I thought Okita-san had agreed with everything."

"Yes, well," Shigure made a jerky motion with his hand, "it can't work with the people we've got lined up for the main roles."

"Oh? Who's playing who?"

"Naoto is the only one who comes close to being the younger brother but it's not... real. And remember, we need someone that even looks remotely like the older brother!"

Yuki, who had been silent during the conversation, decided to voice his curiosity aloud, "Shigure, what's the play about?"

Shigure turned to him, the morose expression lightening slightly when he caught sight of Yuki. "Ayame hasn't told you?"

Yuki frowned, "No, he said I had to audition to find out." His frown deepened when Shigure cast Ayame a quick glance, to which the other boy duly ignored. It was odd to see this kind of interaction between the two boys. Yuki wondered how different this play really was, and what it meant to both of them.

"So why don't you just try out?"

"I don't want to."

"Oh come on, Yuki! Still have stage fright? You know it's just going to be you, me, and Okita-san."

"I just don't want to, Shigure, just leave it."

"Please," Shigure whined, stepping alarmingly close to Yuki in a gesture reminiscent of Ayame's previous attempts, "as a favor to one of your favorite people in the whole world?"

Yuki rolled his eyes at the last part but he kept stubbornly silent.

"Please, Yuki—"

"Why don't you?"

The question came from Ayame, who had surprisingly not joined with Shigure's begging.

"It doesn't conflict with any plans," Ayame continued, not really waiting for a reply, "and you don't even know if they'll pick you."

Yuki sighed. "What does it matter anyway if I audition or not?"

He hadn't meant it as a serious question but judging by the way Ayame suddenly found the fabric interesting and the serious expression on Shigure's face—he had touched a sensitive subject.

"Please, Yuki, just do this for me."

Finally tired of all the begging they had done before, Shigure's rather quiet plea was enough to get Yuki to grudgingly agree to the audition. As soon as he grumbled his assent, Shigure had cheered up immensely and told him to show up to the next day's audition.

"Why can't I just head down now? Or are you still auditioning other people?"

Shigure made a non-committal noise and insisted that Yuki attend tomorrow's audition.

"Alright," Yuki sighed again, "if that's all then I think I'll head home early."

For once, neither of the boys cajoled him into staying longer; so it was with an odd feeling in his chest that Yuki bid goodbye to the two boys and he made a silent trek back home.

* * *

"So… you didn't tell him?" 

Shigure slid into a seat across from Ayame. The other boy lifted his head from his intent examination of clothing material.

"He never asked."

"What's the big deal? Just tell him I originally wrote the play for you and,"

"That's not important."

Shigure shot Ayame an incredulous look. "It's what the whole play is based on!"

In a rather uncharacteristic gesture, Ayame turned back to what he was doing with speaking.

"Ayame!"

The silver-haired youth ran a hand across his eyes and murmured something too quiet for Shigure to catch. Shigure leaned closer, opting for a more understanding tone.

"Aya, what is it?"

"I'm… I don't know what he will think if I tell him."

Shigure blinked. "I don't even think he knows that—"

"I have a younger brother."

"Aya…"

"You wrote it for me, my supposed wish when we were younger. We were both princes," Ayame smiled wistfully at the word, "and I was next in line for the throne. Civic unrest or something of that like caused the two us to be sent away, separately for protection…"

Shigure remained silent, watching as his dear friend recounted the storyline back to him.

"Eventually, the conflict resolves itself and we're needed back. I arrive safely but the younger prince, he's never found."

Ayame's hands, Shigure noticed, had gripped a piece of cloth rather tightly before abruptly dropping it back on the table.

"He grows up as a peasant, unknowing of his lineage. But it doesn't matter because the older brother, noble and wise, rules over the kingdom."

"Ayame," Shigure began but stopped when Ayame held up a hand.

"What was the point of the story Shigure?"

"It covers a lot of things, Ayame, it's gone under so much revision since then,"

"But originally?"

Shigure ran a hand through his hair. "Come on, Ayame, just stop it."

"The point," Ayame continued as if he hadn't heard, "was that there was no need for the younger brother in the first place. The king and queen had no need for him. The kingdom had no need for him. The older brother… he had no need for him."

"But that isn't the ending anymore!" Shigure broke in impatiently.

"I know but," Ayame wore a grim smile, "it was the real ending, wasn't it?"

The two were silent for awhile; Ayame robotically measuring and cutting different lengths of fabric as Shigure watched.

"Are you going to…?"

"I don't know."

"I didn't plan on this conversation getting so serious, Aya," Shigure stood up, stretching his arms over his head, "we must be getting old."

Ayame couldn't help but crack a grin at Shigure's statement. "But never too old to share a romantic night with you, Shigure."

The two shared a grin, the previous gloom dissipating in the wake of their joking. "I guess I have to head back to Okita-san. I don't think she meant for my break to last this long."

"What are you going to tell her?"

Shigure winked. "That I think I found a possible candidate for the role."

"Candidate?" Ayame questioned, expression shifting quickly between serious and amused.

"How about candidates?" Shigure asked casually.

"…sure."

And it was with a slight bounce to his step that Shigure left Ayame to contemplate his decision.

* * *

The next day during lunch, Yuki wondered when the anxiety over the audition that afternoon was going to abate. As far as he knew, he wasn't the type to have stage fright. He usually dealt with such things in a detached manner. It wouldn't be the first time he was coerced into some embarrassing performance. 

Nevertheless, he couldn't explain why he was dreading auditioning for Shigure's play. There was a feeling of foreboding rising within him that he couldn't put it out of his mind. It had to do with the odd behavior that both his brother and Shigure showed yesterday. What exactly was it about the play that had his normally exuberant brother on edge?

"Yuki say _'aahhh',_" a pair of chopsticks appeared close to Yuki's face, causing the boy to go momentarily cross-eyed.

"Wha—_mmph!_" A bright, red flush appeared in Yuki's cheeks as he reluctantly chewed and swallowed the morsel of food.

"Shigure!"

The other boy merely guffawed in his seat, expertly dodging a wadded up napkin and small pack of soy sauce.

"I couldn't help it, you didn't look like you were going to anything so…"

"So you decided to feed me yourself?!"

"Relax, Yuki, I do it all the time with Aya. Here, watch," Shigure picked up his chopsticks, grabbed a spicy tuna roll, and held it up coyly in front of Ayame's face.

"Ugh, just stop it."

"Now Yuki, what's wrong with a little love here and,"

"Little, you call that _little_?"

Shigure grinned in reply but still offered the sushi that Ayame happily took into his mouth. Yuki rolled his eyes at the action and pointedly turned back to his lunch. It was as Shigure had said; it looked like he hadn't eaten anything at all.

"I'm not that hungry," he muttered, sliding the box away from him. He picked up the water bottle and drank thirstily from that instead.

"Yuki, you shouldn't skip meals. What if you get sick?"

Yuki gave a flippant shrug at Ayame's question, "I won't."

"Oh I know," Ayame quickly grabbed his chopsticks and a sushi roll, holding both in front of Yuki's face, "you want _me_ to feed you instead of Gure-san, is that it?"

Despite Shigure's half-hearted protest—which caused a small smile to grace Yuki's face—Yuki drew back swiftly. "Stop that, I'm not hungry."

He raised his hand as if to push the hand away from his personal space.

"Leave it Ayame."

Yuki sent Hatori a grateful look, unsurprised when his brother automatically dropped his hand and sent a mischievous look in Hatori's direction. "You've been more chivalrous when it comes to Yuki, Ha-san, is there something you need to tell us?"

Hatori appeared unfazed by the teasing, going so far as to swallow some rice and meeting Ayame's joking stare.

Yuki sent a small smirk in their direction but inwardly he agreed with Ayame's observation. The stoic boy was more prone to stopping the other two's playing around when it involved him. As long as Yuki showed a strong dislike for the direction of the jokes, Hatori put in a comment to stop it. Yuki was almost positive it still had to do with Hatori's attempt to erase his memory; nevertheless, he wasn't about to voice his assumptions aloud. It _was_ a crowded cafeteria after all and he didn't want to make the atmosphere awkward.

"Oh that reminds me," Shigure broke in, "Makoto's been asking me about your apparent martial arts skills."

"Martial arts?" Both Ayame and Hatori turned an interested eye in Yuki's direction. "Since when could you do martial arts?"

Yuki almost blanched as soon as the words 'martial arts' left Shigure's mouth. It wasn't hard to come up with a plausible reason but still, it was unnerving to hear that phrase especially when the last he'd heard of it was from the Shigure of the present time. He settled for a casual shrug at the curious looks. "It just sort of… came out."

"…came out?"

Yuki resisted squirming in his seat and gave another shrug. "It was just a situation when I wasn't thinking. I reacted. I didn't know I could do that."

Ayame's eyebrows were still rapidly rising at Yuki's words. Shigure, too, looked like he had trouble digesting the information. "From the way he put it, you lay two grown men down flat with flying kicks and punches."

He couldn't help the small grimace at Makoto's choice of words. "That's an exaggeration."

"He wasn't the only one who claimed that," Shigure added, eying Yuki's face, "some of the other boys wanted to know if you could teach them."

"I doubt I'd be the best teacher if I don't even know how I did it."

"Maybe," agreed Shigure, "anyway, they only mentioned it a couple of times. I just never got around to asking you about it."

"Oh, well… it's really nothing special."

"If you say so."

The sound of the bell tolling signified the end of that conversation and the lunch period. Several more classes before Yuki had to subject himself to auditioning. Come to think of it…

"Shigure?"

The boy looked up from just closing his box. "Yes?"

"Will I be auditioning with someone else or just reading the lines by myself?"

Shigure threw him a mysterious smile. "We'll see what works."

"What kind of answer is that?"

"We'll see," repeated Shigure, waving jauntily before briskly walking to his class. Yuki knew it was pointless trying to get the other to answer his questions. He supposed it didn't really matter since, in a matter of hours, his question would be answered.

* * *

Yuki stuck his head out from behind the deep red curtains before pulling back behind them. Apparently, he wasn't the first one auditioning but Yuki still didn't know when that would be. There wasn't any roster that he had seen but the others waiting in the back with him didn't seem as anxious as he felt. As far as he could tell, the students weren't bad. Adequate was the main word that kept popping into his head. He didn't see how either Shigure or Okita-san was having problems. He supposed that he wouldn't understand it as much as Shigure seemed to. Either way, Yuki was looking forward to walking _off_ the stage as soon as possible. 

"Suyama, Yuki!"

Hearing his name called, Yuki strode forward into the middle of the stage. He politely returned the smile Okita had when she caught sight of him, although he resisted from rolling his eyes at Shigure's enthusiastic wave. It was fortunate that the other hopefuls were still backstage or they would've felt that Yuki was already favored.

Several feet in front of him, on the floor, was a stapled script. He hesitantly picked up before clearing his throat. "Where should I start?"

"Hold on, hold on," cried Shigure, practically jumping up from his seat and effortlessly swinging himself up the stage to stand right in front of him. "I have to get you into the acting mode."

"Hey, did you do this with everyone?"

"Yes," replied Shigure in a serious tone. "I find it helps both him and us when we're looking at hopefuls."

Yuki cast him a doubtful look but he sighed in acceptance when Shigure's no-nonsense expression remained. "Alright let's have it."

He didn't know what he was expecting but having a hand gently cover his eyes was not it. For just an instant, he was transported back to the moment Hatori tried to erase his own memories. _'Of course_, _it's silly to expect Shigure to do the same. Still…'_

"What are you doing?!" Yuki took a quick step back.

"I'm trying to help you visualize," Shigure said patiently.

"Then just tell me, I can close my eyes myself!"

Shigure made a disapproving sound but he refrained from touching Yuki again. "Alright, I want you to pretend you're a prince."

Yuki gave an undignified snort at the last word.

"Hey," Shigure complained, smiling nonetheless at Yuki's response, "focus here. Now you're a prince. You have an older brother who is set to become king."

"Let me guess, I want the throne for myself so… I kill him in his sleep?"

"Yuki!"

"Alright, alright, I'm focusing. What now?"

"There's unrest in the kingdom,"

"Isn't there always?" he broke in, stopping the rest of Shigure's words.

Yuki cautiously opened one eye when he didn't hear an immediate response from the other boy. He knew he wasn't usually this… recalcitrant but something about being here was making him uncomfortable; and rather than closing off like he normally did, he found himself picking a different venue to vent his anxiety. On the other hand, he knew he was just prolonging his stay here so…

"Sorry, I…I'm listening. Really, I am."

"Alright," returned Shigure in a light tone, "where was I? There's unrest in the kingdom. More so than either of your parents expected so, in a bid for the safety of the future heir and, more importantly, his sons, the king has sent them away."

Shigure paused, his voice becoming softer as he continued. "Separately, one boy entrusted in the care of a servant, they were sent away until the residing king and queen could get things into order. They did, after several years, but the peace had cost both their lives."

"Parentless?" Yuki couldn't help the whispered question.

"Yes," Shigure continued, voice maintaining its soft tone, "but luckily their final order was for the retrieval of the boys. First the eldest was searched for, then the youngest."

Somehow, through Shigure's short speech, Yuki was beginning to imagine the happenings in the play. He couldn't picture any other face than the ones he knew; his brother Ayame, Hatori, even Shigure were all appearing in his mind's eye.

"Unfortunately, the—well, I think I'll leave it off there. How about you try reading?"

Yuki opened his eyes, blinking into Shigure's cheerful face. "Alright," he said, trying to shake off the odd sensation that settled in his chest. It was a whimsical story to be sure, but the plot wasn't so original that he had trouble imagining it. Shigure gave him an encouraging pat on the shoulder before returning to his seat at the table facing the stage.

Yuki bent down to pick up the script (_'when did I drop it?' _Yuki thought) and glanced down at the highlighted section. "Where should I start?"

"How about line twenty-three?"

Yuki turned sharply to the right, blinking at the sight of his brother standing opposite him. "When did you get here?"

Ayame winked. "It's a secret!"

Yuki frowned in reply, turning back to the script to see Ayame's suggestion. The scene was a conversation between both princes. However, the word '_stranger_' was written in parentheses next to the elder prince's name. He surmised that the younger prince wasn't aware of the older one's identity.

"_Should I fetch someone to help you?" _Yuki asked, looking up into Ayame's eyes after he read. He tried to adopt the countenance the character should have but he felt awkward under both Ayame's and Shigure's eyes.

"_No, there's no need, I…_" Ayame, to Yuki's surprise, held a glassy sheen in his eyes as he stared at Yuki as if seeing him for the first time, "_what's your name?_"

Yuki quickly glanced down at the sheet in his hands. "_Yori_," he replied, his voice becoming soft when he looked back up at Ayame's changing expression.

"_Yori!_," he breathed, "_Your name is…"_

Yuki used the pause to look down and try to memorize the next few lines. Just as he lifted his head up, the other had already reached out, placing a hand under his chin so he could look up into the older boy's eyes.

"_You look just me, I—!_" Ayame dropped his hand and stepped back quickly. "_Your parents, where are they?"_

"_Parents?" _Yuki sent him a wary look. "_I don't have anyone but my father, but he's at the market."_

Ayame seemed to deflate at his words. "_A father?_" he asked, addressing both the boy and himself. "_I see, then, could I…? When will he be back?"_

Yuki shrugged, looking off in the distance as if to look through a window. "_Not too long from now. Do you want to stay until then? I could make you something—!_"

"_No!" _Ayame cried, already shaking his head. "_That's kind of you, but I-I'll just be back another day."_

"_Are you sure, sir?"_

"_Yes, yes, I'm quite sure."_

"Stop!"

Both boys instantly turned at the one word. Shigure was standing, a broad grin across his face. Even Okita had a pleased expression on her face.

"That was very well done, the both of you. Such a small segment but I could believe you were brothers."

Yuki idly wondered if Okita knew how right she was.

"In any case, that'll be enough for now. We've still got many others to go through."

Yuki nodded, dropping the script and turning to head back.

"Yuki, wait up!"

He half-turned to see Ayame half-jogging to catch up with him. "Wasn't that fun, Yuki?"

"It was depressing more like."

"Oh, don't say that! I'm sure there'll be a happy ending for the two."

"How can you be so sure?"

"It's a secret!"

Yuki rolled his eyes at the repeated utterance of the phrase. He kept silent as he took the stairs down that would lead him to the hallway, and ultimately out of the school grounds. "Are you going to stay to work more on the costumes?"

"No, I've got that all sorted out. Student council's helping with the sewing. Besides, I'll be busy with other things."

"Other things?"

"Memorizing my lines of course!"

Yuki abruptly stopped walking. "I thought you were just filling in. Aren't you working costume design?"

"I am but Shigure had always imagined me for the part. I've always played the role, especially when Shigure first wrote it."

"I thought it was new," Yuki muttered, glancing longingly out the windows in the hallway to look outside.

"No," Ayame smiled, "it's quite old. We just needed to find a younger brother who could match me."

Yuki snorted. "You mean match your inspiring talent?"

"Why Yuki, you've taken the words right out of my mouth!"

"Yes, well, good luck finding someone to play opposite you." He turned to leave but Ayame caught his arm.

"I thought you did well Yuki."

He raised an eyebrow at the statement. "Well? It was average, that's all."

Ayame spread his arms, "it felt so real, like…" he paused to search for the right words, "like you were my little brother!"

As soon as Ayame uttered those words, he knew he had said something wrong. The color seemed to drain from Yuki's face, but instead of embarrassment or annoyance, there was a cold look emanating from his eyes. Yuki quickly turned his face away.

"I've got to go," he mumbled, hurrying through the doors outside before Ayame could say anything more.

"Yuki, wait, what did I…?" Ayame pushed the doors open, staring at Yuki's rapidly distancing figure. "What did I say?"

* * *

**AN**: Writing the chapter didn't take as long as it normally did but it felt really odd writing it. I don't know. Maybe I'm still settling into the drama that will undoubtedly happen in the rest of the chapters. I had different plans for the original play, something more comedic and with no ties to Ayame and the younger Yuki. However, I realized that this story _is_ part of the SBBOrg Movement. It's _supposed_ to involve bringing them together. I didn't want to lose sight of my goals. 

Anyway, I plan to include more happenings in the next chapter. There are other characters but they seemed to have been neglected in this chapter. Oh well, we'll see what happens. I hope you enjoyed the chapter and leave a review, letting me know what you think!


	13. Being Around You

**Title**: Ripples by the Pond

**Author**: Gia

**Website**: sbborg(dot)webs(dot)com

**Rating**: PG

**Pairing**: None

**Time**: 90's. During the Mabudachi Trio's high school time.

**Summary**: A wish Ayame made in the past sends Yuki reeling back in time. Finding himself sharing a class with the Mabudachi Trio themselves, Yuki must find a way to keep his secret hidden or risk losing himself in the past forever.

**Disclaimer**: The story here is non-profit and for purely entertainment purposes; nor is it affiliated to Hakusensha or any other publishers of Fruits Basket. The manga belongs to Natsuki Takaya and the plot belongs to me.

**Author** **Notes**: Long wait? Yes. Very sorry? Yes. Keep this author's note short? YES! I hope you enjoy the chapter!

* * *

"Why did he say that?"

Yuki turned over in his bed, dragging the covers up to his chin. It was already one in the morning and he couldn't stay asleep. Yuki thought he probably grabbed an hour or two but even that was a poor estimate. The problem lay in Ayame's careless words. Or rather, the way he reacted to Ayame's phrasing. Now he would be suspicious because he didn't understand Yuki's reaction.

'_He has a brother!_' Yuki screamed in his mind, hands reaching up to rub wearily at his eyes. '_He should think about him. He doesn't even talk about him. He's never even __**mentioned **__him to me._'

Yuki, still with his hands over his eyes, smiled bitterly. The truth was still hidden. While the trio was undoubtedly suspicious, they probably had no idea about his connection to them. Despite that, for all intents and purposes, they were close. Yuki wasn't stupid enough to pretend that he didn't know that. He could admit it and, with no small amount of guilt, enjoy it too.

It was easier hating the Ayame in the present because he wasn't such a constant presence in his life. Now, he was beginning to realize that keeping up a grudge was more difficult when he had to face Ayame, even Shigure and Hatori, every day. They were kind and friendly, nothing at all like the distant figures he dealt with in the present.

Yuki was beginning to think that he couldn't take much more of this emotional stress. Something had to happen to break himself out of this paranoid state. Yuki could only pray that it wouldn't have any adverse effects on keeping his identity here a secret.

* * *

**Ripples by the Pond **

By Gia

_Chapter Thirteen: Being Around You_

* * *

Hatori yawned quietly into his hand before focusing on what Ayame was talking about. Next to him, Shigure's head was nodding off to one side although he kept an intense look of concentration on his face. Neither of them knew what Ayame was fussing over, especially given that it was nearing one in the morning. All Hatori had pieced together was some kind of misunderstanding but he didn't even know with whom Ayame was referring.

"I don't know why it's bothering me," Ayame continued, unaware that Shigure's and Hatori's attention was straying, "but I didn't mean to offend his feelings."

Shigure gave a non-commital grunt, which Hatori would have interpreted as '_who is __**he**__?'_ but he was fighting to keep his eyelids open.

"I don't even know _how_ I did it, but I feel like I really said something unforgivable."

The last phrase had been delivered with such a despairing tone that other two roused themselves to attention. Hatori cleared his throat, nudging Shigure to ask what he'd rather not.

"Aya," Shigure began, "who are you talking about?"

Ayame blinked comically back at them. "Yuki."

Shigure narrowed his eyes in thought. "When was this? After you rehearsed your lines together?"

"Are you sure you offended him? Was he really angry?" Hatori added.

"He didn't say anything but mumble that he had to go. He was hurrying because of something I said. But I don't know what could have," Ayame paused, his brow furrowed.

"What is it?"

"I think I must have made him uncomfortable when I said," Ayame trailed off, an uncharacteristic flush to his face when he recalled his exact words.

Shigure mistook to the flush and let out a snort. "If you said anything of what we usually tell him every day, then I think your blowing things out of proportion Aya."

Hatori was inclined to agree but judging from Ayame's silence, it wasn't what either of them thought. "What did you say Ayame?"

For once, Ayame was at a loss of words. He could probably count on one hand the times he'd discussed his little brother Yuki with Hatori and Shigure. Sometimes Shigure with make a passing comment about Yuki's closeness with the Head or the distinct lack of it with his older brother; Ayame hadn't felt awkward about it, in fact, he had practiced disinterest and apathy to the fact that he had a little brother. With Hatori, on the other hand, things were more complex.

If he could help it, Hatori rarely if ever brought up his younger brother. Ayame was vaguely aware that Hatori had more exposure to Yuki because of his curious ability to erase memories. Ayame felt some pity for Yuki's situation, but his true sympathy was for Hatori's obvious reluctance to take away a child's friends.

The truth of the matter was that he felt more like a brother to Hatori and Shigure than he did to his own. Even the amnesiac transfer student, Yuki Suyama. He carelessly told the boy that he felt like Yuki was like a little brother.

Objectively, there was nothing wrong with the statement. It should've been regarded as a compliment—no, it _was_ a compliment! So why did he…?

"Ayame?"

Ayame jerked at his name and focused back on his cousins' faces.

"What did you say to him Ayame?"

At any other time, Ayame would have laughed at Hatori's firm tone and teased him for sounding so protective of the slight boy. But this wasn't the time for that, Ayame knew.

"I told him," Ayame began, sighing heavily when he couldn't just say it and get it over with, "I told him that he felt like a little brother."

Immediate silence met Ayame's pronouncement. Ayame looked between Shigure and Hatori, not liking the stunned looks or the meaningful glances they shared between themselves.

"What? Do you think it was odd?" He asked as he was eager to see if his anxiety was unfounded. "Have I misunderstood after all?"

"Aya," Shigure spoke slowly, darting a quick glance at Hatori before turning to face Ayame's face, "do you really mean that?"

Of all the questions he could have asked, Ayame did not expect this one. "What is this Shigure, don't you think we're all close?" It was difficult to keep the surprise from his voice, even more to keep the usual dramatic volume of his voice to a softer sound.

"Yes we are," Shigure conceded easily, "but we can't forget that we still know nothing about him. He doesn't know anything about himself either."

Ayame opened his mouth but shut it when he recalled that yes, when Yuki had arrived at their school, everyone was informed of the boy's amnesia. But it was so easy to forget that after all the time they'd spent hanging around one another!

"You're not saying we should erase his memories again, are you?"

It was Shigure's turn to blink back at Ayame, unused to the slight accusatory tone in his voice.

"No, of course not Aya, it's just that," Shigure pursed his lips.

"What? Tell me."

When it looked like Shigure wasn't going to continue, Ayame turned to Hatori. "I know you two have been discussing Yuki without me."

He sent them a sincere smile at their bewildered looks. "You forget that the snake can be cunning. I just hid it well." He gave a modest shrug, a gesture so characteristic of the usual behavior that both Shigure and Hatori couldn't help but smile back.

Ayame basked in the brief respite to the tense conversation they were holding but he had to get back on task. "Please, tell me everything you've talked about."

"Aya, we—_!_"

"Please."

* * *

Yuki rubbed his tired eyes once more. Although he had fallen asleep around three in the morning, he still felt like he had barely closed his eyes before his alarm woke him. He couldn't imagine getting through his classes without grabbing several more hours of sleep. Too much time obsessing over such a small incident the day before kept Yuki cursing his anxiety. He wished he hadn't reacted the way he had, but he wished most of all that Ayame had said nothing to him.

Yuki blinked when Hatori suddenly appeared beside him. He was just switching his shoes at his locker and didn't expect to run into these two until homeroom. Hatori had a pensive expression on his face as he critically regarded Yuki's bewildered face.

"You don't look well," the boy intoned.

Smiling wryly, Yuki shook his head and ran a hand through his hair. "I didn't get much sleep last night, that's all." Yuki wondered if he looked especially haggard or if Hatori was just observant enough to notice his tired eyes. "And I'm not sick either," he added as an afterthought just in case Hatori was hinting at it.

Hatori paused and seemed about to say something before he changed his mind. "Let's go to class."

Yuki nodded slowly, reluctant to ask if there was something on Hatori's mind. Though nothing more had been said between them on the way to class, Yuki had the distinct impression that a heavy issue was pressing Hatori's mind. When they met up with Shigure and Ayame, the latter greeted him cheerfully enough but Yuki caught an odd look in Shigure's eyes. It had passed before Yuki could determine what it meant but a feeling of unease had already overtaken his mind. What happened? Did they hear about his odd reaction to Ayame's words? Were they speculating about it?

Although these were Yuki's main fears, he still clung to the hope that whatever they're suspicions; they would never get close to the truth. They would never know the fact that he wasn't from their time. He would just have to soldier through the unease and hopefully by the end of the day; things would be just like normal.

Yuki followed behind the other three as they filed into their math class. Like his other classes, Yuki didn't find much difficulty in the material although the teacher, Masashi Yabe, was strict on paying attention. Luckily, Shigure and Ayame were the most behaved in this class.

"Pop quiz," the Yabe abruptly called out, much to the chagrin of the students. He walked across the first aisle, handing a sheaf of papers to the first person. "Fifteen minutes before I pick it up," he instructed, glancing at the clock.

Yuki picked up his pencil at eyed the questions before him. Several questions required a little more deliberation but would be done before time was up. It wasn't until he was finishing the final question that he heard a low moan of distress to his right.

Shigure had a concentrated look on his face as he scribbled hastily on his paper. Yuki was surprised that he hadn't notice Shigure's minor difficulties in the class. Even though Shigure was definitely more lax in his studies then say, Hatori, he couldn't recall seeing Shigure seem so out panicked. _'It's just a pop quiz, right?'_

As soon as fifteen minutes were completed, Yabe collected the sheets. Rather than continuing on with the lesson, he stood in front of the class as he flipped through each paper. "At least some of you have been paying attention," He remarked after making his way through half the stack, "but there was more to this quiz than a simple grade."

Many of the students broke into agitated muttering but with a sharp look from Yabe, they quieted down.

"The school board would like a rise in the standards of students' performance. Therefore, this short aptitude test was to determine which students would need extra tutoring."

More groans met his statement but he seemed to understand their disbelief because he made no move to quiet them. "I will be pairing up students as I see fit so before you leave school this afternoon, come check the paper posted outside the classroom."

He placed the stack on his desk and turned to the chalkboard. "Now back to the lesson."

* * *

Yuki blinked with surprise when he realized he was having lunch with only Hatori by his side. "Where are,"

"Shigure and Ayame?" Hatori completed for him. "They're going over some details for the spring play. The school's expecting a large turnout this year."

Yuki nodded with some interest, though most of his attention was on sitting comfortably while he ate his food.

"Have you given any thought about going on stage?"

At Yuki's disbelieving stare, Hatori shrugged, "It's a possibility, isn't it?"

"I suppose…"

"Issues with stage fright?"

"Not really," Yuki eyed his bentou, "I mean not more than the next person. It's just…"

"Yes?"

He ate several more bites before answering the gentle prompting. "It wouldn't make much of a difference because there won't be anyone to see me."

It was Hatori's turn to blink in surprise. "But surely Kentarou-san,"

Yuki gave a small smile at the mention of his guardian. "Yes, you're right."

The two lapsed into silence as they returned to eating. Or rather, Yuki did but Hatori remained staring at Yuki's bowed head. "It's…"

"Hmm?" Yuki hummed, still busy chewing.

"It's a shame you still haven't recovered your memory."

The pause was slight but Hatori had been watching for it. He was entering sensitive issues but it was time the subject was broached. After that long discussion with Shigure and Ayame, it was time to bring Yuki into it. Besides, he was the main issue.

"Do you think your parents are really worried?" Hatori winced at his phrasing. 'Of course,' would be the obvious answer to that question. "I mean to say, they…"

"Nothing's been mentioned of a missing boy, you mean?" the response was said dryly though Hatori could tell Yuki was deliberately avoiding eye contact.

Yuki shrugged. "Maybe they've given up."

Hatori narrowed his eyes, "That's horrible, Yuki, why would you say that?"

The sharp snap of Yuki's bentou box closing startled Hatori out of his expression. "I didn't mean that," Yuki said as he pushed himself to his feet.

"Yuki _wait_,"

Both Ayame and Shigure stepped into view. Yuki stopped short, meeting their inquisitive gazes. "Yuki? What's wrong?"

He couldn't stop the red flush across his face. "Nothing. I need to talk to Akio-san." He brushed off Ayame's attempt to pull him back and left the three to stare after him.

Hatori watched Yuki stride back into school. There just wasn't an easier way to broach the subject without causing some distress.

The other two turned from their observation back to Hatori. "What happened?"

"I tried bringing up his memory and," he shrugged, "it didn't go over well."

Ayame huffed. "All this tension isn't making things any better. Things were fine before."

"Yes," Shigure agreed, "but it's like when we just met. Yuki isn't telling us anything."

"So what do we do now?"

Hatori put his food away. "We can't do much if he doesn't want to talk about it."

"I feel like the villains in my play," Shigure said sheepishly, "upsetting Prince Yuki like that."

Ayame stopped.

"Prince?"

Shigure winked, "Don't tell anyone I said this, but Okita-san agreed that Yuki was the best person for the role. It must be some kind of record to have the main characters cast before the secondary roles."

"I bet," Hatori patted Ayame on the shoulder, "Congratulations."

"Was there any doubt!?" Ayame placed a hand over his mouth, as if to stifle the victorious laughter escaping him.

"Just don't tell anyone yet, we're still holding casting for other roles and I don't want anyone to be asking me if they have one yet."

"Of course Gure-san, _anything_ for my love," he sidled closer to Shigure's side, purring the last phrase as he trailed a finger up Shigure's chest.

Hatori rolled his eyes, "Enough you two, I think you may have attracted attention."

Indeed, everyone in their vicinity had turned in their spots to stare at the interesting picture Ayame and Shigure made. Far from embarrassed, Ayame winked and threw a friendly arm around Shigure's neck. The enamored atmosphere dissipated, several chuckling nervously at having been caught staring while others laughed uproariously at their friends' flushed faces.

Hatori merely sighed.

* * *

Yuki peeked inside the room, seeing several teachers at their desk eating. Akio was easy to spot and wit a little hesitation, Yuki raised his hand to get his attention.

It didn't take long for Akio to notice and he came up to him, "Yuki, something the matter?"

"No, I was just," Yuki suddenly blushed and averted his face. It seemed silly for him to say that he came just to talk. He wasn't the type to seek out adults for advice. "Nevermind, I'll see you after school."

"Hold on a minute Yuki," Akio smiled encouragingly, "let me just grab my lunch and we can talk more comfortably in homeroom."

He was tempted to refuse Akio's generous offer but he really needed to sort out his thoughts. There was no one else to speak to that knew his real predicament anyway. He murmured his agreement and walked with Akio back to his homeroom. The man placed his lunch on the desk and sat on the edge so he could face Yuki.

Feeling a little nervous, Yuki perched himself on a desk.

"So what's on your mind?"

Yuki opened his mouth but then shot a quick look at the door. This wasn't exactly a safe place to talk about this…

Akio's eyes widened in understanding, "Is this about that story you told me during winter break?"

The ruse was obvious to Yuki and he felt grateful that Akio was the first person he met when he went back on time. "A little bit," he admitted, "but there's more to it than that."

"Ah, so feeling a little guilty about not telling your _ah, _new friends that you weren't going to stay?"

Yuki frowned, "I'm not going to _stay_, I'm going to," he cut himself off. He cleared his throat. "Akio, there's more to the fact that I'm here from the future."

He continued in a whisper, "There _is_ a connection to the Sohmas and I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner but you looked like you already had a lot on your mind so I didn't want to make it worse but they've been getting suspicious and I don't know what I can do to make them not suspicious."

He knew he was starting to ramble but once he decided to tell Akio everything, he needed to tell everything and that included his anxiety. Yuki forced himself to maintain eye contact with Akio. "I'm related to them."

Akio blinked. "As in, blood related?"

Yuki smiled grimly. "I'm Ayame's younger brother. I'm around seven years old in this time."

Akio blinked again. And promptly fell off the edge of his desk.

"Akio-san! Are you alright?"

"Oh," Akio chuckled, rubbing his lower back that was still smarting from the fall, "I just didn't expect to hear what you just said. You'll have to forgive an old man."

Yuki eyed him worriedly, but mustered a weak smile in his direction. "You're taking this pretty well. Aren't you bothered that I didn't tell you until now?"

"Honestly Yuki, I'm still amazed that you trusted me with the first secret. I think this is the craziest thing that's ever happened in my life but I don't regret a single moment of it."

"Well," Yuki couldn't maintain eye contact now, he was so embarrassed at Akio's heartwarming words, "the three of them have been feeling suspicious since the first day I got here. I haven't helped the situation either with my own behavior."

"What do you mean?"

"I reacted… badly when Ayame said that I was like his little brother."

"That doesn't make you happy?"

"Not exactly. There's a ten-year difference between us, Akio-san, and Ayame never." Yuki stopped. "He never…"

Yuki didn't know where to begin. Akio Kentarou had no knowledge of the Sohma history and as far as Yuki was concerned, it was better of that way. If Yuki followed that line of reasoning, he shouldn't tell Akio about how he grew up either. He had never told anyone the details of his childhood. Doing it now, after so many years, it was like trying to force open a rusted door.

"Let's just say, he wasn't around when I needed him."

"Yuki…"

"Please don't ask me."

Akio sighed, looking very much like he'd like to do anything but not ask Yuki about his past. It was tense for several moments before Akio spoke again. "But what can I ask? How can I help you?"

"I don't know, I wish I didn't have to deal with constantly trying to remain neutral around those three. I'm always worried about giving myself away. I've been here for too long and I still have no idea what I need to do to get back to my time."

"Yuki, given with what you've told me, don't you think the reason you're here is because of your family?"

Yuki froze.

"And if that's true," Akio continued, "then maybe you need to tell them. Maybe whatever's brought you here will bring you back once you let them know."

"No, that can't happen."

"Why not? It seems the logical—_!_"

"I don't want them to know. The way it is now…" _Is what I'm used to._

"I can't say I completely understand where you're coming from, but I think you won't be able to make any progress unless you start accepting certain things."

Yuki mentally clamped down on the rising irritation he felt. He knew Akio was trying to help, and he especially knew that what Akio was saying made the most sense. Still, he'd spent so much time trying to keep things normal between him and the Mabudachi Trio that to ruin his work now made the past months pointless.

"I'll try Akio-san, but I'll need to think about how I'd even broach the subject with them."

Akio looked at his watch. "Lunch is almost over. We can talk more after school if you'd like."

"I'd like that." Yuki smiled.

* * *

The school bell tolled, signaling the end of lunch. Even as the last of the stragglers filed into class, three students remained on the rooftop of the school building. Clouds floated lazily overhead, momentarily blocking the sun's rays from their faces.

Hatori sighed heavily, the only one of the three sitting on the ground with his back leaning against the wall. Shigure and Ayame chose to stand on either side of him, but at the moment, they were preoccupied in staring at the ground before them. The atmosphere between the three was thick with apprehension and Hatori didn't know what to make of the snippet of the conversation between their teacher and Yuki. What little they heard still remained fresh in their minds:

"_Yuki, given with what you've told me, don't you think the reason you're here is because of your family?"_

_There was a pause._

"_And if that's true," Akio continued, "then maybe you need to tell them. Maybe whatever's brought you here will bring you back once you let them know."_

"_No, that can't happen."_

"_Why not? It seems the logical—!"_

"_I don't want them to know. The way it is now…" _

Shigure sighed noisily and slid down the wall until he was sitting in the same position as Hatori. "We're missing class for this, so why don't we say something?"

Hatori raised his eyebrows but remained silent.

"Okay, I'll say something first."

Hatori waited and Ayame shifted in his spot but didn't sit down.

"I think we can safely say he doesn't have amnesia. He's here for something about his family. We don't know much of anything else."

"But what about everything you told me?" Ayame pushed himself off the wall and began to pace in front of the two seated boys. "He knows something about us, the Sohmas. Is this family he was talking about… us?"

"He didn't say any names. I hate to say it, but there's still a chance that there's no connection to us at all. All the tense moments with our family might have been indirectly caused by memories with _his_ family."

Ayame shook his head, roughly pushing wayward strands away from his face. "I know there's a chance of that but now I don't think so."

"Is it what we said—_!_"

"No, it's not. Or, maybe a little bit." Ayame abruptly stopped his pacing. "But what am I supposed to think now?"

"My gut feeling tells me he knows something." Shigure shrugged. "Other than that, we've got nothing to run with."

"The only way we can really find out is if we talk to him."

"He turns cold the minute we start asking personal questions. Other than forcing him to tell us his secrets, we can't do anything."

"We're not forcing anything."

"I don't mean _force_ Hatori, but more like, not taking no for an answer. We can do this avoidance dance for as long as you want but it's not going to get us anywhere."

"We don't have any guarantee he's going to tell us anything."

"We're not strangers, he can't just ignore us!"

"Then what do you think we should do?"

At Ayame's question, Shigure furrowed his eyebrows in thought. "I think we should talk to him now. No more of this debate behind his back. We've had enough time speculating and after hearing some of that conversation back there, I think that we deserve to know. He already knows too much about us. Why not return the favor?"

A determined expression appeared on Ayame's face.

"Then after school we're going to take care of this."

* * *

Yuki walked across the hallway. He was already halfway to the shoes rack to get ready to walk back home but he'd forgotten that Yabe-sensei would pair students based on who needed help and who was adept enough to tutor. Although he hadn't thought the quiz was too difficult, Yuki couldn't help but wonder if he'd be slotted as someone needing tutoring help. Doubling back, Yuki passed by numerous students.

By the time he made it to the classroom, the hallways were empty. He could see the single sheet of paper taped to the door of the classroom.

//

Mentor** - ****Mentee**  
Akai Ito – Saizo Makoto  
Hatori Sohma – Naoto Shina  
Renji Sato – Shin Ueda  
Yuki Suyama – Shigure Sohma  
Ayame Sohma – Hashiba Maki  
Uchida Kazuna – Yoshinaga Fumi  
…

//

The list continued on but Yuki's eyes were glued to his name and those of his relations. For one moment, he almost expected to see his name paired up with Ayame. It would be just his luck to be paired up with the last person he wanted to be around. Or so he thought…

He trailed a finger under his name and Shigure's. _'I guess I'll be tutoring him, huh?'_

"Yuki!"

Shigure, followed closely behind by Hatori and Ayame, were just rounding the corner when they caught sight of him.

"Forgot to check too? Looks like I'll be tutoring you Shigure."

"What? That quiz caught me off guard!" Shigure mock swooned and Ayame neatly caught him. Hatori, who had side-stepped the pair, nodded to him in greeting. "And us?"

Yuki didn't need to glance back. "You've got to tutor Naoto and Ayame has to tutor Hashiba." He didn't bother hiding his snicker at Hatori's pained expression.

"At least you don't have Saizo, I've heard he's barely passing the class."

Hatori nodded, expression still strained. Yuki gave what he hoped was an encouraging grin. "We'll organize a tutoring schedule later Shigure, I told Akio-sensei I would be back home a little early today."

It wasn't the exact truth but Yuki wanted to leave them on a good note instead of another awkward one.

"Wait, Yuki, could we talk for a bit?"

It was Hatori who spoke first.

"What about?"

"Maybe we should move it to outside the school?" Shigure nudged Ayame. "I spend enough time here after school anyway."

"Why can't you just tell me here?"

Ayame took a deep breath. "It's,"

"It's a good surprise!" Shigure burst out, "About something for school!"

"For school?" Yuki's eyes widened. "Your play…?"

"Yes!" Shigure and Ayame pumped their fists up the air. "Come on, I've got to show you my designs for the costumes." And with that, they linked their arms on either side of Yuki, marching him along down the hallway.

Hatori trailed behind, face pensive.

* * *

"Pale colors, lavender, light blue, but overall a cream color that softens the overall image."

"…I'm going to look like a girl."

Ayame laughed, "You mustn't confuse beauty with something as simple as looking a like a girl."

Yuki frowned, stepping closer to the costume and touching the edge of the sleeves, "Why are these so long?"

"Sleeves that encase slender wrists, pale fingers peaking at the edge, ah what a breathtaking image you will make!"

Yuki's frown deepened. "…what kind of play is this."

It was Shigure's turn to laugh. "Come now, Yuki, you know the plot already."

"Yes," Yuki spoke slowly, "but I'm starting to doubt that piece of information."

"And a tiara," Ayame broke in, "Still on paper but once I work out how the pearls go—eheheh, now Yuki, don't look like that."

It was like a thundercloud had descended over Yuki's face. "What. Tiara."

It wasn't really a question.

"Aya's joking, princes don't wear tiaras." Shigure made motioned comfortingly for Yuki to calm down. "It won't be as bad as you think."

"Yes, well, we'll see once practices begin." Yuki glanced up at a clock fixed on the wall. "If that's all, I'm going to head home now."

Hatori, who had been sitting quietly off in the side, suddenly stood up. "Wait Yuki. We have something else to say."

"Can't it wait?"

"No, it's important."

Yuki raised an eyebrow in his direction, a picture of calm despite the unease he was beginning to feel.

"About?"

"Yuki, do you have amnesia?"

It was like something grabbed hold of his heart and squeezed. "I—what are you trying to say?" His shoe scuffed loudly against the floor as he involuntarily took a step back.

"We've been friends for awhile now Yuki, don't you think we'd notice?" Hatori glanced uncertainly at Ayame and Shigure but when he turned back to Yuki, his eyes remained clear and determined.

"You act strangely when we bring up certain things."

Yuki was the first to look away. He crossed his arms. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Hatori took several steps closer, half-anticipating Yuki to bolt out of the room but desperately hoping the other wouldn't.

"You avoided us before. I thought it was because of your situation. But we're starting to think it was the company."

Yuki remained silent.

"You knew us. Or you knew about us before we met."

'_No! How did they—this isn't supposed to happen like this!'_ Yuki's hands clenched within his crossed arms. He shook his head, strands of hair falling in front of his eyes and veiling his expression. "You don't know what you're talking about."

Hatori grasped Yuki's shoulders, not strongly but firmly enough to catch the other's attention. "Ayame told us you reacted strongly when he said something to you." He could feel Yuki's entire body tense at his words.

"He said you were like his little brother," Hatori continued, "but you didn't react at all like he expected. Why?"

"…I don't want to talk about this." Yuki didn't even look in Ayame's and Shigure's direction, assuming their silence was so that Hatori could say what he wanted.

"Yuki, you—_!_"

Yuki suddenly pushed Hatori out of his personal space. "None of you know what you're talking about! I," Yuki clamped his lips together and made to move around Hatori to get out.

Predictably, the taller of the two reached out to grasp the other's arm. "Yuki we need to talk about this."

"Please speak to us Yuki!"

Yuki didn't even look in Ayame's direction or acknowledge his plea.

"No, _you_ need to let go," followed by an emphatic attempt to free himself from Hatori's hold.

Hatori sucked in his breath. He didn't want to force this issue but he, Shigure, and Ayame had agreed to be assertive when confronting Yuki.

"No, I'm not letting go until you talk to me. Or the three of us."

Yuki tugged at his arm, a red flush sweeping across his face as he grew frustrated. "Just, _ugh_, just let go Hatori!" he cried, pushing determinedly at the other.

Hatori quickly grabbed Yuki's other arm, effectively holding the boy captive. "Yuki _listen_, please,"

Yuki suddenly stilled in his grasp. "I don't want to talk about this." It was the third time he'd said it, only this was barely a whisper.

Ayame and Shigure, both of whom had been silent until now, made to step forward until the door to the classroom slid open.

"Hatori?" Akio stepped into the room, looking at three guilty faces and one completely blank one. "What's going on?"

"…we…"

No one spoke until Yuki stepped out, bangs shadowing the expression on his face. "They were just telling me about the spring play. I've got a role."

Despite the bland tone, Akio grinned proudly in response. "Congratulations!"

When there was no other response forthcoming, Akio gestured for Yuki to come to him, biting down the urge to ask if anything was the matter when Yuki robotically stepped around him and out of the classroom. More or less alone with the famed Mabudachi trio, Akio sent them all an apologetic look.

"Sorry to cut your time together, but we were planning on heading home early today." Akio inwardly winced at the awkward silence.

"I'll… see you tomorrow in class then. Goodbye."

The trio quietly bid him farewell. Akio sent them one more apologetic look and slid the door shut behind himself. He didn't say a word to Yuki, choosing instead to gently lead him outside of the school and back home.

It looked like it would be a long night of talking after what he just interrupted.

**

* * *

**

**AN**: It's been so long since my last update. I'd rather avoid saying something clichéd like _oh how time flies_ but in this case, it actually applies.

I kept cutting this chapter in half and replacing it with another chapter I wrote a while back. If I had kept the original placement, this story would've been kicked into overdrive. I don't think I'm ready for it to end so quickly so what was meant for this chapter will be shelved for the next chapter or possibly, the chapter after that.

Anyway, this chapter is slightly longer than my previous chapter so think of it as a small apology for the insanely long wait. I hope you enjoyed the chapter and leave a review, letting me know what you think!


	14. Determination

**Title**: Ripples by the Pond

**Author**: Gia

**Website**: sbborg(dot)webs(dot)com

**Rating**: PG

**Pairing**: None

**Time**: 90's. During the Mabudachi Trio's high school time.

**Summary**: A wish Ayame made in the past sends Yuki reeling back in time. Finding himself sharing a class with the Mabudachi Trio themselves, Yuki must find a way to keep his secret hidden or risk losing himself in the past forever.

**Disclaimer**: The story here is non-profit and for purely entertainment purposes; nor is it affiliated to Hakusensha or any other publishers of Fruits Basket. The manga belongs to Natsuki Takaya and the plot belongs to me.

**Author** **Notes**: I just realized I'm just now including the weather into my descriptions. I'd been writing under the assumption that it's cold, hence why Yuki and Hatori were in the cafeteria in chapter twelve…but I never made it clear descriptively. I want to do so now but I'm also aware that it seems out of the blue. So for those who actually read these author notes, I apologize at the abrupt insertions of weather and whatnot. I'll try to be more thorough next time.

* * *

Yuki heard footsteps first before a plain sheet of paper slid in front of him. He eyed Shigure's hand, which still lingered on the sheet, but made no movement until the hand retracted and Shigure walked quietly away. Yuki felt the urge to turn around to see how the others took his silent treatment of them, but he knew if he did, it might signal his desire to reconcile with them.

That was the last thing he wanted to do. After speaking with Akio, Yuki needed to group himself together and think about what to do now. To go back to the way things were was no longer an option. If he planned on confronting them, he needed to be completely prepared for the consequences. Maybe it would be the first real step towards getting back to his time.

It was both thrilling and frightening to imagine telling the truth. Akio wouldn't be the only person who knew. But would they believe him?

Sighing to himself, Yuki finally looked down at the paper. A neat address was written in Shigure's handwriting, presumably where they could meet to complete the tutoring schedule Yabe-sensei wanted the students to hold together. It seemed Shigure may be able to pretend nothing had changed, if only to keep up anything school-related. Yuki could deal with math, but if Shigure brought up what was weighing heavily on his mind—_and their minds too_, Yuki's mind interjected—then he would have to tell Yabe-sensei that he needed a new partner.

"Makoto, pay attention!" roared Yabe-sensei, his narrowed eyes pinning Makoto in his seat.

Yuki winced.

'_Or maybe I'll come up with my own solution. One that doesn't involve speaking with Yabe-sensei.'_

* * *

**Ripples by the Pond **

By Gia

_Chapter Fourteen: Determination_

* * *

Yuki clasped the water bottle in one hand, the other preoccupied with twisting the cap, while he stared outside. The weather was getting colder by the day but rather than look forward to the oncoming sight, Yuki saw it as a distinct marker of how long he'd been stuck in the past.

"Why so glum?"

Nearly upsetting the water bottle and making a rather unfortunate spill on his lap, Yuki thanked his fast reflexes before turning to regard the intruder.

Okita smiled gently, though her eyes conveyed concern when she looked at him.

"Where is Hatori, or Shigure and Ayame? I usually see them around you."

Yuki shrugged, placing his drink on one of the empty desks. He didn't want to be around anyone for lunch, which is why he chose this classroom, but while he planned on avoiding students, he didn't imagine having to avoid teachers as well.

"A fight perhaps?" she nudged, smiling patiently.

"Perhaps," Yuki echoed, refusing to be goaded into speaking with her.

"I find that friends who argue, grow stronger because of it."

Yuki could not keep the disbelieving look from appearing on his face. Rather than get offended, Okita laughed and continued, "It's easy to get angry, but it is hard to forgive. Being able to do that is a good show of friendship."

It was wise words, but they couldn't apply to the situation he was in, as much as Yuki would've liked to hear a solution.

"Thank you, Okita-sensei, I understand." Yuki did his best to send a reassuring smile her way, a small attempt at showing that he was fine now. Okita could easily tell Yuki's reluctance to speak about it but she appreciated his concern to not let her worry. '_Such a kind, young boy this Yuki Suyama_.'

"Very well, I hope things are sorted out with you and your friends."

Yuki bowed until he could no longer her footsteps. When he straightened, Yuki picked up his water bottle, casting one more look out the window. It had only been two days since the incident and time only seemed to drag since then. He wanted to avoid confrontations for as long as he could, especially this particular one. The situation he found himself in, it wasn't on the same level as Hatori's admission to having the power to erase memories. As fantastical as that seemed, admitting to them that he, Yuki, was actually Ayame's brother and from the far future...

Yuki could not continue that line of thought; the fear that gripped him was too strong to put into words. He had to be truthful, to himself if no one else. It was no longer about just keeping the normality he had gained in the past months.

He could no longer disregard the fact that he _cared_ what they would think. In the present time, it was easier to take no notice of their words or actions. Shigure was an unorthodox guardian who gave Yuki freedom but not the stability of a real guardian, Hatori was an uneasy reminder of his childhood, maintaining polite but distant conversation whenever Yuki needed to have medical attention, and as for his brother?

All of Ayame's attempts to woo him over—Yuki wasn't blind. He just couldn't figure out whether his brother was sincere. More importantly, why Ayame would care then and not when he was younger and needed him most. Perhaps Okita was right, it was easier to be angry. Yuki had held on to that feeling of abandonment, keeping it till it grew from resentment to anger, then to indifference. Life was just easier without his brother; in some small way, his new attitude allowed him to cast Ayame aside like Ayame had cast him aside so long ago.

But in the face of spending time with them, Yuki was able to learn more about their character than he was able to learn when he was back at the present. Given what he knew now, he should be able to trust them.

Still, that small seed of doubt remained.

What if they didn't believe him? Didn't give him a chance to explain?

As much as it pained him to admit, Yuki didn't know how could cope if his attempt to be completely truthful was met with disbelief.

'_When did I begin to care?'_

His only answer was the lunch bell signaling the end of lunch and his musings. With heavy thoughts weighing him down, Yuki headed to his next class.

* * *

Yuki stared unseeingly at his locker. Robotically switching his shoes and limply carrying the bag at his side, he realized he had spent the rest of the day in a daze. The weather had suddenly taken a turn for the worst with graying skies and a chilling breeze. Whereas earlier the thought of snow was still far off, given the look of the sky now, maybe snow would be arriving sooner than Yuki thought.

He stepped outside, squinting up into the clouds and wondering when snow would fall. A particularly cold wind swept by, ruffling his uniform and hair and prompting a small sneeze to escape.

"Uh oh, looks like you're getting a cold!" a voice teased.

Yuki whipped around, coming face-to-face with Shigure. The other boy winked, surprised to see Shigure suddenly sporting a jacket and scarf.

Sooner than Yuki could ask where the two items came from, Shigure was unwrapping his scarf and putting it around Yuki's neck before Yuki could protest.

"Aya and I store some emergency winter clothes with the designs Aya does in class. We can't always predict the weather changes so it's best to be prepared." Shigure ended the last statement by snugly pulling the scarf around Yuki's neck, the wide grin on his face only widening at Yuki's averted eyes and heavily flushed cheeks.

"Is it time to fulfill your wish for a scarf kiss?" Shigure joked, leaning closer and secretly delighting in the deepening flush.

Yuki, forgetting his past two days of silent treatment, stuttered out a "W-w-wha-a-t…?" before taking a large step backward.

"Scarf kiss? I don't even want to know what that is!"

Shigure's expression went from pleased, to surprised, until it settled into a fairly devilish expression.

"Yuki," Shigure crooned, "I can show you."

Yuki shot him a scandalized look, still maintaining the distance between them. Shigure winked at him, though his face seemed more subdued. There was no doubt as to what would cause the quiet, but Yuki wasn't quite ready to ask the reason for Shigure's somberness.

"I wanted to show you where I thought we could study." Shigure paused.

Yuki inclined his head, silently urging him to continue.

"It's a cake shop, but they have large tables in the front where we can sit."

Yuki didn't exactly think a cake shop would be conducive to tutoring but the place would be public, which is something Yuki preferred, especially if Shigure meant to ask him questions about his supposed amnesia.

"Alright," he began simply, "let's go."

Yuki silently followed, walking closely but not beside Shigure. If he was nervous, Shigure never let on, at least not anything Yuki could discern. He didn't mind the silence, but it did almost make him want to whistle a tune or do something to dispel the silence hanging above them.

They passed by a group of girls clutching their school bags. Yuki ignored the ogling and giggling as he passed them, though he wasn't surprised when Shigure sent a teasing wink at them. Giggling even more, the girls hurried past them.

"The one in the back was especially cute, wasn't she?"

"I didn't see," Yuki shrugged, "doesn't really matter to me."

"Why Yuki, that's no way to treat the fair beauties passing you by on this winter afternoon!"

The harmless needling continued until they reached the cake shop. The area was suspiciously empty of any customers but the two walked up to the door.

"'Closed'! But it's supposed to be open at this time," Shigure pressed his face against the glass, eying the cakes put on display, "This is a travesty!"

Yuki sighed, "Any other places in mind? We're wasting our time standing here."

"…my place."

It was said nonchalantly but Yuki froze at those words. Shigure's place meant the Sohma Estate. Was it a ploy to get him cornered?

"It's quiet," Shigure continued, "and we can stay there for as long as you'd like."

The words were spoken so plainly, Yuki couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed at his paranoia. If it came to cornering him, he didn't think they'd be the type to force a confession out of him. Besides that, maybe going back to the Sohma Estate would give him a sign as to what to do about divulging his secret to the three of them.

"What about your parents?"

"Dad works late."

Yuki didn't probe further when Shigure made no mention of his mother. He figured that in Shigure's case, perhaps his mother chose the path of leaving the family because she couldn't bear not being able to touch her son. If it was any other reason, Yuki wouldn't investigate.

"Alright, lead the way."

They walked further in companionable silence, although Shigure seemed compelled to throw out a sentence or two.

"There's a path I like to take on the way home. It's a little longer to get back, but it is well worth the extra minutes."

"The scenic route, I take it."

"You could say that I suppose," Shigure mused, "there's a tiny crosswalk over a small stream. You may find it, what's the word, aesthetically pleasing?"

Yuki gave no reply, though he did incline his head to show he heard. What was important now was that his feet were taking him closer and closer to the Sohma Estate.

* * *

"Thanks for your hard work," Ayame bowed quickly, waving to the other students outside the room. Once the classroom door slid shut, he stretched his arms above him.

"Ah, that was a long meeting, right Ha-san?"

"Hm," Hatori sighed, "longer than I expected. Shigure probably left already."

"Eh? Gure-san left early?"

Hatori nodded while grabbing his bag, and motioned for the two of them to begin heading out. They stopped by their lockers, switching out shoes and grabbing their respective things. Hatori pulled out a pair of woolen gloves, and a matching scarf. A surprised sound from behind him reflexively made him turn around.

"Ehh! Hatori, since when did you bring those with you?"

"I brought them just in case. The weather is getting colder." Hatori held out his scarf. "Did you not bring anything? Need to borrow mine?"

"_Ara_, Ha-san, is that an invitation?" cooed Ayame, happily scooting closer and bumping his shoulder against Hatori's. "Shall we have our first scarf kiss?"

Hatori's face betrayed no emotion, "No thanks."

"_Mou_, when will Ha-san ever join in on the fun," Ayame moaned, "well, it doesn't matter. I won't need Ha-san's scarf, I'm always prepared!"

The sight of the pink scarf and matching gloves almost shook Hatori's normal reserve, but such outrageous things were normal when it came to Ayame and his choice of clothing.

"Like it? It's soft, and well-stitched as if from the graceful hands of a lovesick high school student?" Ayame laughed triumphantly, covering his mouth with the back of his hand.

Hatori shook his head, amused more than anything, "Let's go. We should see Shigure and talk about certain things."

The casual but vague phrase sobered Ayame immediately.

"_Aa_, we should."

The two slowly made their way outside and began their trek home.

* * *

"Okay Shigure, does that make a little more sense now?"

Shigure nodded emphatically, holding up several sheets of paper that were covered in writing. "Integrals are a little troublesome, eh?"

Yuki hummed in reply, shuffling the rest of his notes into a neat stack. The two of them were seated in Shigure's room. As Yuki predicted, he saw no sight of a woman that could be Shigure's mother. The home was modest, neat and without clutter. No lights were left on, explained away by Shigure's mention that his father hadn't returned him yet.

"Want anything to drink, Yuki?"

"Water is fine, thanks."

Shigure excused himself, uncharacteristically quiet as he walked out of his room. Yuki took the chance to better examine the bedroom he was in. Shigure's futon was rolled up and pushed against the corner of the room. A medium-sized closet was placed directly next to a small desk. The small bookshelf carried a number of manga, as well as, to Yuki's surprise, several large books on photography. He couldn't recall Shigure ever mentioning an interest in the subject, but perhaps he didn't know Shigure well enough yet to guess.

Shigure returned a moment later with a chilled water bottle in his hand. "Hope you don't mind the bottle," Shigure apologized, revealing another one in his hand for himself.

"It doesn't matter to me," Yuki opened his bottle, sipping slowly. He didn't know what to make of this turn of events. Shigure made no attempt to bring up what had happened the other day. In fact, he didn't even seem nervous to have Yuki in his own home. Yuki resisted the belief that Shigure and the others were finally respecting his space and choosing to let Yuki come to them when he felt he could. However, a small seed of doubt remained in his mind.

Yuki set the bottle down by his feet. "We can do one more problem, Shigure, and I think we can call it a night. This time, I won't help you, alright?"

"Alright! I'll surprise you with my skills!"

Yuki kept a silent watch as Shigure slowly scribbled on a piece of scratch paper. After only a little bit of tutoring, Yuki concluded that Shigure wasn't in such bad conditions as he thought he was.

'_I probably don't have to tutor him as much as I thought_,' Yuki mused, keeping a watch on the numbers Shigure was writing down, _'Better off that way, I can minimize my interaction with them until I figure out how to explain myself.'_

"Done!"

"I'll check it."

Shigure slid the scratch paper to him, beaming confidently. Yuki glanced down at his work, noting the steps and the circled answer.

"Correct."

Shigure grinned, "What did I say? I'm a master. Well, now I am after your tutoring."

Yuki shrugged, "You're not bad at math. I think you'll do fine in Yabe-sensei's class."

"Ah, words of encouragement, they are like soothing balm to the soul!"

Before Yuki could make a bland reply, the sound of a loud knock was heard from outside.

"Gure-san! It's me Aya and Ha-san! We just got back, my love!"

Yuki and Shigure both froze. Shigure stood up, glancing down at him. A very serious expression was on his face.

"Yuki," Shigure paused, unsure how to continue.

Yuki quickly stood up, feeling his own heartbeat speed up. This was exactly what he was hoping to avoid. Now it looked as if he was unwillingly cornered.

"Yuki, I," Shigure glanced back upon hearing more insistent knocking, "I can let you out the back. If you want."

Yuki would be lying if he said he wasn't surprised at Shigure's unexpected proposal of aid. He could take him up on this offer right now and avoid the confrontation. However, was this an opportunity to finally come clean?

"Shigure? Hello, are you taking a nap!" The knocking continued.

Yuki bowed his head. _'I'm not ready yet.'_

"Sorry Shigure, but," Yuki hastily grabbed his bag, "please show me the way out."

Shigure wasted no time, urging with a finger to his lips for Yuki to remain quiet. There was a door in the kitchen, which swung silently open into the night.

"Just follow this stone path, it'll lead you to a side gate. You'll recognize the street from there."

Yuki stepped out of the house, taking a moment to turn back and face Shigure. Yuki couldn't decipher the expression on the other's face, but he felt compelled to say something else.

"Shigure… thank you."

Shigure nodded once, and shut the door behind himself.

Yuki sighed, and hurried away. He managed to escape this time, but the next encounter may not be so lucky.

* * *

Yuki clutched the cheap bread he purchased from the lunch center to his chest as he bypassed the cafeteria and took the stairs. He didn't feel like being surrounded by many people, and the peace and quiet the roof provided would be a great chance for him to clear his head.

After Shigure's surprising help, Yuki still felt indebted to him. He couldn't understand what reasons the other boy would have to help him out. A sense of honor? Or was there an ulterior motive to it all? Yuki highly doubted that Shigure was valuing the extra math tutoring to protect Yuki away from their probing questions.

'_What reason am I missing?_'

Yuki finally reached the door opening to the roof of the school. It was chilly, but the coat Akio lent him did kept the worst of it away. He sat on the floor, leaning next to the door to unwrap his bread. The taste of the sweet filling barely registered as he mulled over the past days. Even though Shigure helped him out once, he couldn't expect him to do the same again. It could have been a one time opportunity for all Yuki knew.

'_Does Shigure expect something in return?'_

It was a thought that hadn't occurred to him before. It was mostly due to the fact that Shigure didn't try to contact him afterwards. The morning classes were also conducted without any interruptions. It was as if, for Shigure, nothing of importance happened.

Beginning to get frustrated, Yuki bit into his bread with more energy. The best thing to do now, Yuki surmised, was to figure out a way to explain himself to his relatives.

Chewing slowly, Yuki titled his head back till it gently bumped against the wall.

'_One doesn't walk up to someone and start talking about how he traveled from the future. They already believe that I knew them before I had met them. I could start from there…'_

Yuki looked down at his nearly finished lunch, taking smaller bites as various scenarios ran through his mind.

'_That means, I would tell Ayame I'm…'_ Yuki paused, _'I'm his brother.'_

Yuki let the thought sink into his mind, finally allowing the gravity of the statement to hit him. Confessing his blood relation to them, Yuki couldn't imagine how the days would be like following such a declaration. Talking about time traveling and blood relations, two ridiculous notions by themselves, together would either render Yuki a lunatic or something supernatural.

'_I have no guarantee that they will believe me either.'_

He already had nightmares imagining what Akio would be like if Yuki told him that he had come from the future. Just because that situation turned out alright in the end, Yuki couldn't risk it and assume that the same could be said in this case. There were too many variables he had no control over.

A loud bang from the rooftop door being kicked open shook Yuki from his thoughts. He quickly stood up, greeting Saizo Makoto's smiling face.

"Yuki, just the man I was looking for!"

"Makoto, what do you want?"

"Here let me take that," Makoto grinned wider, taking the empty wrapper of Yuki's finished lunch from his hand, "I have a couple of questions for you!"

Yuki crossed his arms, "What about exactly?"

"You're impressive martial arts skills, of course."

Makoto stepped closer, throwing a friendly arm over Yuki's shoulders.

"What say you teach me a little of your moves, eh?"

Yuki shook his head, ducking underneath Makoto's arm and turning to face him.

"I don't think so."

"I knew you would say that so," Makoto reached into his pocket and pulled out money, "I can pay for the lessons."

"I'm not an instructor Makoto, nor do I want to teach anyone."

"_Whaaa_—b-b-but I can pay you!"

"I don't need money," Yuki reached out, gently closing Makoto's fingers over the money, "and I really can't teach anyone."

Makoto's confident posture immediately deflated, his entire body seeming to sag under his disappointment. Bewildered at the swift change in behavior, Yuki struggled to come up with something to say.

"Why do you want to learn all of a sudden?"

Makoto tensed, but he looked up at Yuki with an earnest determination.

"It's not to start fights or anything! It's…" Makoto paused, looking away.

'_Fights?'_ Yuki mentally chuckled, '_That didn't even occur to me.'_

Makoto's hands visibly curled into fists. He strode forward, almost but not quite in Yuki's personal space. For the briefest moment, Yuki wondered if he would take a swing at him. Instead, to Yuki's complete surprise, Makoto grabbed his shoulders.

"I need to learn," his grip tightened, "for my kid brother!"

* * *

Yuki bowed his head in apology after he slipped into homeroom ten minutes late. Akio sent him a worried glance but nodded to indicate that he would let the tardiness pass. Yuki hastily snuck into his seat, glad that most of the attention was on Ayame who was standing in front of the class.

"We need volunteers," Ayame continued, "for decorating set, designing the program, and of course with costumes!"

Ayame lifted his hands, imploring dramatically, "To truly honor the hard work of Shigure, our class should help show it to the best of our abilities. We will dazzle the minds of everyone in the audience!"

Boys cheered, while the rest of the students clapped, swept up in Ayame's bold statements.

Ayame smiled widely, taking his seat at Akio's urging.

"Well," Akio clapped his hands together, "As Ayame said it, let's do our best to put on the best spring play for the visitors. I expect everyone in the class to be involved in something!"

The class all yelled their agreement, eyes drawn to the clock which we would signal the end of homeroom. Akio chuckled to himself, aware of their longing to head home. His eyes searched for Yuki's spot, and he frowned in worry when he noticed that Yuki's uniform sleeves were rolled up. The slight alteration in uniform was unlike Yuki, but there was no reason to worry unduly.

The school bell sounded and interrupted Akio's musings. He smiled at the students as they headed out, casually noting how the Mabudachi Trio trickled out with only a small glance at Yuki. For his part, he was still sitting down at his desk as if he hadn't heard the bell.

"Ready to go, Yuki?"

Yuki visibly startled and looked up.

"Sorry, what was that Akio-san?"

"You seem distracted Yuki," Akio commented lightly, turning around to gather his things, "I asked if you were ready to go. Unless you have certain things to do?"

Yuki laughed, "Are you trying to ask something specific Akio-san?"

"Me? Oh no," Akio tutted, "Just wondering. Young men these days can be busy with things."

Yuki shrugged, "There is one thing, actually. Could you drop me off near Kogen Park? I'm meeting a friend there."

"Oh?" Akio's voice was tinged with curiosity, "You're not meeting who I think you're meeting are you?"

"No, I'm not meeting those three just yet."

Akio was tempted to continue that questioning but he was piqued by Yuki's wording of 'just yet'.

"So you'll be meeting the three of them soon. Especially since practices for the play should be starting soon."

To his credit, Yuki didn't even flinch at the mention of his brother's play.

"Rehearsals don't begin until next week," Yuki abruptly stood up, his bag already clutched in his hand. "I won't have to worry about it until then."

"The topic to discuss is quite serious," Akio trailed off thoughtfully.

"I," Yuki followed Akio-san out of the classroom, "will take care of that soon enough."

The two of them made their way to the lockers, Akio waiting patiently for Yuki to switch out his shoes. They clutched their respective coats closer to their bodies as the chill wind picked up. Yuki kept his eyes on the ground as he followed Akio to his vehicle. Even though he claimed he would take care of it, Yuki still had to contend with the fact that he had no idea how to tell the others about himself.

He couldn't write a script for himself and expect the others to follow it. If he were braver, he would be tempted to just speak to them directly and follow the flow of the conversation from there. As it was now, how could he try something like that now?

"Ah, Akio-san," Yuki began, raising his eyes to seek his mentor's back, "Maybe it's too soon to begin talking with them."

"You may not have to worry about that," came Akio's wry response, "_ahem._"

Raising an eyebrow, Yuki stepped closer to Akio.

"Why did you stop walking?"

At another '_ahem,'_ Yuki looked from Akio to what he was subtly pointing at. Yuki's eyes immediately widened.

"Uh," Shigure grinned sheepishly, "Greetings Akio-san, Yuki! We thought we could nab Yuki for a bit to talk."

Akio's eyes darted between the group and Yuki's startled face. "I believe Yuki has plans for meeting one of his classmates," he trailed off, sneaking a wink at Yuki when the boy turned his surprised eyes towards him.

Hatori stepped forward, "We can walk with him there, if," he glanced at Yuki, "Yuki would allow us to."

Yuki grimaced, feeling the atmosphere thick with the awkwardness of the situation. Another opportunity to speak with them already presenting itself—it was much sooner than Yuki expected. Perhaps it was the trade-off for Shigure helping him escape the night before.

'_Will things be revealed now?,'_ echoed in Yuki's mind as he grudgingly nodded his agreement.

* * *

They chose a bench but only Yuki and Hatori sat down. Shigure and Ayame remained standing in front of the two. All three pairs of eyes were trained on Yuki. For his part, he kept his attention entirely focused on his hands. They were clasped together tightly.

Ayame bent down to peer up at Yuki's expression. "Yuki, please look at us."

Shigure bent down as well, laying a hand over Yuki's clenched ones. "We're right, aren't we? You don't have amnesia."

Hatori shifted closer. "You can tell us. You already know about me."

If he could, Yuki would melt back into the bench if he could get away from this situation. Just when he was starting to feel more confident about talking to them, they suddenly appear and what courage he had vanished in that moment. He remained silent.

Shigure cleared his throat, glancing at both Ayame and Hatori before turning his attention back to Yuki. "I know we asked this before, and we assume this now. But we want to ask again. Do you know who we are?"

It was a simple question.

And yet it wasn't.

Yuki would swear that his heartbeat was loud enough for human hearing.

"I thought you had given up on asking me for awhile," he blurted out, finally looking up.

"We wanted to give you space." Those were Hatori's words.

"Please, Yuki, dragging this out isn't accomplishing anything is it? Rehearsals for Shigure's play are next week," Ayame sighed, "Just talk to us."

"Did you really know who we were?" Shigure asked again.

Yuki bit his lip.

"Yuki," Hatori patiently waited until the other boy looked directly at him, "is Suyama your real name?"

Yuki averted his eyes until he met Ayame's own.

"Are you a… Sohma?"

It was too late to stop the soft gasp that escaped him. To hear that question so suddenly was a complete shock.

"It's true," Shigure breathed, staring at Yuki's face. "You, but how is that possible? We've met every Sohma in the family."

Yuki pulled his hands from Shigure's.

"I—this isn't how I meant for it to happen."

"What do you mean, Yuki?"

"Stop trying to ambush me for starters," Yuki pointed out, looking at each boy in the eye. "I'm reluctant for a reason and I need the chance to organize my thoughts."

Surprised at this change in attitude, the three could only share silent glances before looking back at him.

"I can't talk about this now," Yuki began, raising his hand to halt Ayame's movement to speak, "I really do have to meet someone. It's important."

"Then when?" Hatori asked

"Tomorrow," Yuki spoke firmly, "we can finally discuss this. Since its Saturday, we can have all the time we need to talk."

It looked as if Shigure and Ayame were struggling to hold back from what they had on their minds. Yuki took a deep breath, "I'm sorry. But it has to be tomorrow."

The sound of footsteps to their left had the four of them looking up. Saizo Makoto walked closer, curiosity on his face despite his sheepish grin.

"Am I interrupting something?"

"No," Yuki spoke first, standing up and neatly stepping around the three of them, "we're done."

Sensing Yuki's need to leave, Makoto nodded to the three before leading Yuki away.

The three of them stared at the two boys' backs before they disappeared from view. Silence descended over the three of them as Shigure and Ayame took a seat next to Hatori.

"So he really is a Sohma?" Ayame was the first to speak.

"He's related to us alright."

Ayame pursed his lips. "I've gone over everything you've discussed. But it still doesn't answer the question, if he really is one of us, how could we not have known?"

"A cover-up perhaps?" Shigure asked, "Maybe there was a scandal."

"We would've heard about it!"

Shigure shrugged. "Maybe, maybe not. But his reaction certainly points in that direction. Any mention of Sohma brings some negative reaction from him."

"I still haven't forgotten about that incident when he was still new to the school."

Ayame frowned, "You had to go home really quickly after that."

Hatori nodded, still disturbed at the memory of what he had to do to the friends of Ayame's little brother.

"Whatever happened that caused Yuki to slow down like that…" Shigure tapered off, deep in thought.

Ayame stilled. "It coincides with what happened to, to my little brother." The slight hitch in his speech didn't go unnoticed to the other two.

"There's some connection then?"

"But what, is the question."

Hatori abruptly pushed off from his seat. "We should head back. We can talk about this there. If this really is some Sohma scandal, we shouldn't be talking about it in the open."

The other two stared up at Hatori. After a moment, they nodded and began a quiet walk back. A pensive look laid over each of their faces, until Ayame to a quick halt.

"Aya, what's wrong?"

Ayame tilted his head, lips moving as he mumbled to himself. His eyes widened and he spun around to look at Hatori and Shigure.

"Wait, why was Yuki meeting Makoto?"

Hatori and Shigure blinked. Neither had quested the interruption because of the serious topic. Nonetheless, once the previous tension was forgotten, they both realized how strange the run-in had been.

"Perhaps he is helping tutor Makoto too," Hatori mused aloud.

Shigure tapped a finger to his chin, wondering at the possible reasons of the two meeting together.

"A clandestine affair," Shigure concluded, "between two unlikely individuals."

"Oh," Ayame began, a wide beginning to break through, "are you getting some ideas Shigure?"

"_Who knows_," Shigure winked.

Hatori sighed, bemused at the quick change in their attitudes. While Makoto's appearance was intriguing, Hatori still couldn't help but wonder how tomorrow would work out. Yuki said he would explain himself, but what his explanation actually entailed could be quite serious. Hatori learned early on that any secrerts involving the Sohmas usually meant something unfortunate.

"Let's go home," Hatori advised.

The other two nodded and together, they made their way back home still consumed with the mystery surrounding their friend Yuki.

* * *

**AN**: Honestly, I'm too preoccupied with grad school, but I've taken this up again because it's a great break from all the studying. I'll go ahead and say that I don't know when the next chapter will come out (hopefully within this month). It's been such a long time since my last update so I imagine a good number will have to read the previous chapters to refresh their minds (at least the ones willing to re-read! My apologies.).

It's around the same length as last chapter so I hope that was a tiny consolation for the wait. But the next chapter, whenever it comes out, is going to be a doozy to write. Answers will be given, but who's to say what the response will be. Anyway, I hope you all still enjoyed reading!


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